


MediEvil Resurrection 2: The Rise of Palethorn

by JelliPuddi



Category: MediEvil
Genre: Gen, Multi, repost from my ff.net
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-07
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2018-12-24 21:00:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 39,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12020901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JelliPuddi/pseuds/JelliPuddi
Summary: Lord Palethorn finds Zarok's spell-book, planning to throw London into chaos! But a page containing a spell so powerful that Zarok refused to use it, seems to be missing… Sir Daniel Fortesque wakes to find a new era that needs to be saved once more! (A retelling of MediEvil 2 that was on my FanFiction, that I'm now reposting here)





	1. Introduction & the Museum

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I decided since this was one of the few works on my FF.net that I actually really liked, I thought I would post it again over here on AO3.
> 
> I'm going to clean it up this time though, because there were tons of errors that I didn't catch originally. A lot of my old after notes won't be here this time. Instead, I'm gonna write comments looking back at the specific chapter I upload.
> 
> Some things also might be removed from this version, such as it being written like a game (excluding the many endings, maybe). Like I said, this fan-fic is 2 years old, so expect chapters to be shorter than my current work, and for things to seem choppy.

Ah yes, he could remember it like it was yesterday… Even though it was hundreds of years ago.

When the war first started, Daniel had charged into battle, preparing for the battle against Zarok and his horrible troops. The dirty-blond approached the battlefield along with the king's best warriors. Zarok had done the same, with Lord Kardok standing at the front.

 _"Sir, he is here!"_ One soldier shouted. " _Fortesque and the king's men have arrived! How shall we handle this!?"_   He appeared to be more human than the rest, approaching the centaur.

Lord Kardok didn't hesitate. Aiming his longbow, he landed a perfect hit, straight into Sir Daniel's left eye. He didn't even get close to anyone, and he was already killed, in such a disappointing way, too…

But alas! Fate knew that Sir Daniel Fortesque would rise to right the wrongs that remained! Years and years, Zarok returned from his hiding after the war and used his black magic to revive the undead once more! In the process, Sir Dan had returned from his tomb, ready to have his revenge and bring peace to Gallowmere!

After so long, Sir Daniel exterminated the one responsible for his death— Lord Lardok. Shortly after transforming into a horrible, serpent-like creature, Zarok had fallen at Daniel's feet as well. He had saved everyone in Gallowmere, and went back to rest, accepted finally in the Hall of Heroes!

Yet, this was not the last of Fortesque's adventures. He had no idea how sooner or later his next quest would come, nor did he realize that his crypt had been tampered with. More time passed, and archeologists had found Sir Dan's crypt, the hero of Gallowmere, passed down in stories for years! Along with that, Zarok's spell-book was found near an old machine miles away.

One page in particular, contained one of the most powerful spells ever! So evil, that Zarok himself was afraid of using it. Since it was far too dangerous to keep in there had the book fallen into the wrong hands, the ones who found it gently ripped one of the decayed pages and hid it somewhere inside of Dan's crypt.

But without that one page, the next person who used the book would be turned into a monster…

* * *

A little boy examined the insides of the museum, smiling, without much of a care in the world.

The year is 1891 in Kensington. After eyeing Sir Daniel resting in an exhibit and looking at every detail of the skeleton, he knew it was probably a good idea to go home since he was becoming hungry. So much excitement, and energy! The boy was told about Fortesque's legend but was amazed to see remnants of the past before his eyes.

Why, he was so excited, that on his way running back to home, the boy didn't realize he had bumped into three rather shady looking men.

One was tall, wearing a scarf and a top hat. The other was bulky, wearing a coat and having a rather droopy face. But the one in the center…

Reggie Pallthorp of Shoreditch— Better known as Lord Palethorn, one of the most successful industrialists in the Victorian age.

He was extremely intimidating. "What y'lookin' at, brat?" Palethorn questioned, with a rather cockney accent. "Y'better get ou'the way if y'know what's good for ya." In a panic, the boy fled back home, not wanting to mess with someone like Palethorn.

The three of them walked over to a house that was secluded in the alleyways, the sunset peeked through the window, as Palethorn put out his cigar and approached the book, taking out a small cane. "Now's the time, to show this world wha' we're made of!"

Right as his hands trailed over the page, Palethorn felt the power of Zarok's spells flowing through him already. Chanting the words inside, a colorful aura came out, slipping around the bodies of the three men in the room.

Palethorn yelled in pain as his ears stretched out and skin became a reddish hue. The tall man felt his skin drying up into scales, while the bulkier one let out a howl as he formed floppy ears. Even the stone gargoyles in the room began moving, spreading their wings out to take flight.

Such power made the windows from the house explode, startling all the residents nearby. People began fleeing instantly, while a horse flipped over its cart that was holding a coffin, popping it upon and making a corpse tumble out.The corpse lifted his head, eyes open and slowly standing up, only to be swooped down on by one of the gargoyles.

Inside the museum, it got worse. The skeletal dinosaurs were brought to life, chasing down those who were simply visiting. Even the ones that were once plant-eaters in life, had lost control. Mummies and other various corpses trudged around, looking for flesh.

All of this chaos, without any knowledge of the source or what to do…

A hero was needed, and he was just inside the museum. Like before, the spells of a necromancer were bringing him back.

Sir Daniel felt his right eye form in his socket, waking up from his rest once again.

* * *

The aura of power lifted him off his back, surprising Daniel. He was set back down once fully mobile, then checked his surroundings as he got onto his feet.

This didn't look like his crypt at all. It was a little too fancy to be that. There were some poles and some chains hooked to them all around his resting place, as if to keep him in, or intruders out, more likely.

Not exactly effective, as Daniel just stepped underneath it to get out.

"Sir Daniel Fortesque, back from the dead once more!" Appearing from a puff of clouds before Daniel was the small ghost of a child. "The great hero, reduced to a dusty relic in the back of this museum!"

"Museum?" Daniel checked his surroundings further, scratching his skull.

"That's correct! Things have changed a whole lot since you've been away you know. It's a brand new world, here in Kensington."

"Kensington?" The fact that Sir Daniel wasn't in his crypt was one thing, but the fact he wasn't even in Gallowmere at all was another matter entirely. He was Gallowmere's savior! What if it was in danger while he was resting? But if that was the case, why was he only awoken now?

"Yep, a new land in a new era!" Winston cheered. "But, unfortunately, with the same old problems. That's the reason why you were brought back once again, old chap!"

Same old problems? Does that mean Zarok returned?… That was impossible though! He was dead, and so was Lord Kardok along with any remnants of Zarok's army. Right?

"I'm afraid I don't understand," Sir Daniel mumbled, "what's going on? Who are you?"

The ghost sighed. "I'll explain what's going on later. But if you wanna know, my name is Winston, Winston Chapelmount! I'm going to help guide you through, so, get your sword and shields ready, then we can mosey on out of here." With that, he seemed to have vanished entirely.

Sir Daniel really wasn't sure if he could trust someone he just met. Though really, he didn't have a lot of options. So the first thing Daniel did upon stepping away from his resting place was pick up his equipment…

If not for the fact it looked horribly rusty. _Wonderful._ Granted, there were enough well-polished weapons and shields around the museum. It didn't take much effort for Sir Daniel to just swipe a copper shield and small sword off some old, armored knights that were up on display.

 

Of course, the first thing he had to run into after stepping out of the "safe zone" were zombies. Much to his surprise, knights breaking out of their glass cases to come attack him as well. There were many hostile, fossilized beings of the sort all around.

Either way, as Winston put it, same old problems, and puzzles. Really, it felt like a repeat of the past, just in a new area to Daniel so far. Especially when he just happened to find a Chalice of Souls lying around for him to collect.

But he was going to be oh-so-wrong when he encountered something that wasn't quite a dragon, but possibly more giant…

* * *

"Whew! We've come quite a long way, haven't we?" Winston finally reappeared again. "I had a feeling you had done this sort of thing before, one of a kind hero you are! You're perfect for whatever we run into." He then pulled out a crossbow from his hat, something which Sir Daniel didn't know was possible "Here, have this! I found it in the museum, we're just borrowing it for now like that sword and shield, right?"

Sir Daniel just lightly glared at the child. "Are you going to explain what's going on yet? Is Zarok back, or not?" Winston's face then drooped.

"No, not exactly. But it _is_ his spells at work. I'm not really good at really big, wordy stuff and explaining… I just give hints and help! My boss sent me to find you, so you can hear everything from him, alright?"

There wasn't much Dan could say back to Winston. After all, he really was being helpful so far, and doing what he was told.

Hearing something rattling in the distance, Daniel jumped a little. "Oh, great! That beast is in the way?" Winston sighed in irritation, floating over Sir Daniel's shoulder. "Listen, Dan, don't be too scared. We're gonna get rid of that monster by finding his weak-point! You know what that means, don't you?" Sir Daniel then nodded, shaking off any fear he had and replacing it with courage. "There we go! Don't let things get on top of you, get on top of them!"

Sir Daniel had to admit, even though l didn't know this child too well… Winston clearly was a nice boy who wanted to help, even though he seems to phase through anything, therefore can't do things that involve physically making contact.

As he made his way up the stairs leading to the exit, what Sir Daniel saw puzzled him quite a bit. The floor was simply covered in bones, that were rattling upon his arrival. They all started to rebuild themselves once they felt Dan's presence. Started from the feet, to legs, then the body…

If Daniel still had a jaw, it would have dropped from the sight of the head which attached itself to the large body. This wasn't something he had ever seen before! Even Zarok had never summoned something remotely close to this, except when he transformed!

But now was not the time to be afraid. Sir Daniel narrowly dodged the monstrous dinosaur lunging at him.

That's when he saw it— the dinosaur's tail made a perfect staircase to the top of its glowing head, _the weak-point!_


	2. Kensington

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Decided I'm going to repost 1-2 chapters each day.

After landing enough hits, the dinosaur sprouted wings like a demon, and began to shoot fireballs at Sir Daniel. He was grateful that Winston handed him that crossbow earlier, otherwise this would have been an impossible task!

He had just enough bolts to take it down, all while running away from the flames. With that, the dinosaur collapsed, shrieking and exploding… and creating a large hole in the floor.

"Oh dear," Winston gasped, "that's, uh, well, it's a shortcut at least. I don't think that the professor isn't going to like that mess though. Come on, Daniel!" The ghost floated down where the dinosaur quite literally crashed and burned, while Sir Daniel followed, unsure of the pit before him.

* * *

It was a little odd to see such a work-area be kept underground, but the man behind it was even stranger to Daniel.

Short, balding, but the most unusual feature were his arms. They were made of metal. Not a pair of gauntlets which Sir Daniel would be able to recognize, no, the limbs themselves were made of robotic parts.

"A job well done Winston, my dear boy, you managed to find him after all!" He peered over the desk, looking at Sir Daniel. "Fortesque, it's a pleasure to meet you! I imagine you are, uh, a little nonplussed as to what exactly is going on, yes?"

"Uh-huh…"

"Well," he stammered, "allow me to introduce myself: Professor Hamilton Kift! Inventor, magician, master of the occult at your services… I also used to do parties." The professor explained with a nervous chuckle. "Let me get to the point already. You see, someone got their hands on Zarok's legendary spell-book, and finally decided to use it for whatever evil powers there were!"

Daniel gulped. This is exactly what he was afraid of. Zarok coming back was one thing, but a mortal human getting their hands on it for power was different, especially depending on how corrupt they were. Kift puffed the smoke out from his pipe. "People like myself have been searching for that book for decades— no, centuries! The power within the pages is unspeakable, you know." Kift then cleared his throat, trying to calm himself. "Anyway, last years the book was stolen by Lord Palethorn, now this is the result, complete chaos! It's bad enough I'm forever stuck in this pit without much power—"

"Lord Palethorn?"

"Erm… he's an industrialist. A bit hard to explain to someone who has been asleep for hundreds of years I suppose." Kift had to take a deep breath. Not only were his lungs probably weak from smoking, but all the chit-chat was exhausting to him. "Oh, yes, that's right! Winston, have you told Daniel about the chalices yet?"

The ghost paused. "Afraid not, sorry professor."

"Quite alright, dear boy. Daniel, every time you collect a chalice, I should be able to reward with of a replicate of a weapon from your previous adventures. Or, something entirely different. If you have found a chalice, I can use the energy to whip something up for you very quickly!" Kift then gestured to another work table. "Just one more thing… Winston can give you advice, but if you want big details on something or someone, come ask me, whenever you are here!"

Nodding slowly, Sir Daniel knew this was going to be a really long day. First thing on his mind though, was turning in the Chalice of Souls to the professor. He needed more items in his somewhat-empty inventory.

* * *

"Just about finished, Daniel!" Professor Kift yelled over to him, finished using the Souls Chalice. "I know it's not something from your previous adventure, but I hope it will suffice. It's much more powerful than that crossbow your, uh, canny friend spoken of in legends used." Kift brought over a large gun, something which Sir Daniel had never seen before. "It's a musket pistol, a rather strong gun! When fired, it—"

"Musket? Gun?"

Kift felt his eyes widen. He completely forgot that Daniel was quite a fish out of the water in this sort of situation…

"Oh dear me! I do apologize, you weren't around for the invention of guns! W-well, to put it simply, you point at something, put your finger on the trigger right there, and then pull to fire. Just be careful, the noise can be pretty loud—"

He wasn't paying much attention, as Daniel fired at a vial that Winston was near. Thankfully, the only thing harmed was the glass, since the bullet phase right past the insides of Winston. "Watch where you're firing that, Dan!"

"Sorry!" Daniel grinned sheepishly, putting away the gun to prevent that from happening a second time.

"Is there anything else you would like to know, Daniel? Either about the new weapon or anything else on your mind, feel free to ask me anything!" Sir Daniel saw that as an open chance to question Professor Kift more on what was occurring. He was still kind of out of the loop and was very curious about this Palethorn fellow.

First thing, he pointed at Professor Kift. "What? Me? I told you about myself, didn't I? Inventor, magician, master of the occult," Professor Kift then noticed that Daniel was directing at his hands. "What? My hands? I'd… rather not talk about it yet."

Well, that didn't go over too well. Maybe Sir Daniel was better off asking about that Palethorn character?

"Ah yes, Palethorn is an industrialist who always fancied magic and cults. It got him in a lot of trouble." Professor Kift explained, having little trouble understanding what Sir Daniel said. "We used to be colleagues actually. Keyword being: used to."

So they were friends at one point? Palethorn must have been a traitor like that cad Zarok. That's what Sir Daniel hoped for at least. It would be bad if Professor Kift was playing him like a fiddle, but somehow, Daniel had a feeling that wasn't the case. He then looked over to Winston, pointing at the ghost.

"Winston? Er, well, he came over to me first when he first was woken up by Palethorn. I asked maybe if he could find someone to stop Palethorn, someone who had put up with Zarok's spells before… and he really managed to get you! How lucky were we?" He then paused, changing his expression from excited to his usual, nervous self. "Listen, I know you may find him annoying at times, but be good to him, he's just a child. Alright?"

Not that Sir Daniel found Winston to be that bad. At least the ghost wasn't making snarky remarks like a certain djinn would. Now seemed like a good time to set out and investigate this new world.

"Wait, one more thing before you leave, Daniel!" Professor Kift stopped him, taking out a bag full of gold coins and handing it to Sir Daniel. "I want you to have this if you run out of crossbow bolts or gun ammunition, you should be able to find someone who can sell you some, along with other things maybe." Sir Daniel simply stared at him, rather puzzled. "How do I know? Well, a friend told me, before I kind of sealed myself down here."

Shrugging, Daniel made his way to Kensington, where the adventure really began.

* * *

First thing Daniel ran into at Kensington? A blood-red hue covering the sky, making the place rather dark. The atmosphere was not helped by all the corpses  thatwere lying on the ground. "Goodness gracious!" Winston gasped at the sight. "See, this is what happens when someone so corrupt like Palethorn gets even more power… wait, someone seems to be alive over there, yoohoo!"

The man walking and holding a cane turned to Daniel and Winston, revealing his pale-green skin. "Oh, blast it! This is what I get for trying to talk to strangers, isn't it?" The regal-looking zombie raised his cane, reviving all the bodies around him.

All of them went into Sir Daniel's direction. He withdrew his blade, only to be stopped by Winston. "Hold on, Dan, if you knock them down, that one with the funny hat will surely just pick them back up. Try to focus on the ringmaster of them all, chap!"

That was all the advice Sir Daniel needed. Though unfortunately, some of the zombies did get in the way, making it quite a challenge. His purpose in this area became a bit more obvious now: clear out Kensington of all the disgusting zombies and whatever other beasts were running around, so it was safe… right?

Continuing through and eliminating any pests, Sir Daniel found himself stopping again, just at the sight of what seemed to be a man wearing a very heavy coat. Although this man's fingers were dirty and his face looked unpleasant, Daniel could tell that was a human standing there.

"Oh, bloody fantastic," the man grumbled, "one more of those undead, eh? Go on, off with ya! I ain't got business with a walkin' corpse." Tilting his hat to cover his eyes more, the man leaned against the wall. "Unless yer here t'eat me brains, in which I won't hesitate—"

Sir Daniel just proceeded to walk past him without a single word, confusing the man, as he expected hostility or mindless groans about brains.But that wasn't what caught the man's attention. No, he heard jingling.

The sweet sound… of money.

And there just so happened to be a wallet attached to the waistline of Sir Daniel's armor. "Aye mate, hold up a moment!" The man dashed in front of Daniel, who was startled by the fact this man had taken a sudden interest out of nowhere. "So, uh, clearly y'got a brain in there. Sorry mate, I confused ya for some of the trash Palethorn brought to life. Mistakes 'appen!"

Winston leaned over to Sir Daniel, whispering. "A spiv! This sort of greedy scoundrel can offer you things, at a price! I wouldn't trust him, but… We haven't exactly got a lot of allies on our side, do we?" The Spiv ignored the ghost's words, caring only about whatever Fortesque had in his pockets.

"So, what'll it be, mate? I can offer wha'ever y'can afford, or wha' y'can hold!"

He might as well stock up on some bolts for the crossbow…

* * *

"I'll see y'again real soon, mate."

After checking in with the Spiv, Sir Daniel continued his routine as normal in the rather hellish-looking Kensington. It was far too easy to fill up on souls needed for the chalice that needed to be collected.

"We made it!" Winston cheered. "I forgot to mention Daniel, over at the museum, the professor wanted us to look for something. I know you probably don't wanna go back, but… what in the world?" In a slight panic, Winston began to hide behind Sir Daniel, pointing at the roof. "Look over there!"

Two figures jumped out from a glass roof that popped open. They seemed to be a humanoid lizard and a dog, completely unaware of Daniel's presence. The dog-like one began barking constantly, drooling a little. "Master will be pleased with booty!" He then began smelling the air, while the lizard hissed.

"Yes, it is a pity we cannot yet enter that one tomb of the museum." He said, slurring like a snake in his sentences. "We will have to return later." Brushing off his vest, an airship hovered above the two.

Once again though, the dog-like man began barking. "Bones, I smell bones!" Daniel shuddered, choosing to hide really quickly along with Winston.

"For goodness sake, Dogman, it's probably just some corpse. Now come on!" The lizard tugged on his partner, and both stepped into the airship, flying off.

Winston just stared, absolutely baffled. "First off, where in the world did Lord Palethorn get that? That's so advanced compared to the industrialized life we're used to! Secondly, what are Palethorn's two lackeys doing here? Oh well, I guess we'll find out soon enough."

Sir Daniel nodded in agreement, climbing up the roof and entering the alternate portion of the museum from where that unusual duo came out of.

* * *

Multiple coffins were lined up in the room below Daniel, as he landed on top of a planter that was dangling from the ceiling. "I suggest we be careful. I mean, someone already dead like you probably doesn't take fall damage or anything, but still! I can't help but feel a presence in those coffins." Winston gulped, keeping himself close behind.

As they slowly descended to the grounds, Sir Daniel could see the Spiv tucked into a corner— Just how did he get here so quickly!? No point in questioning that, when the coffins popped open, and some mummies came charging towards Daniel.

He found a club lying inside of a trunk, and lit the tip of it on fire, making it into a makeshift torch. Daniel knew he was going to need it to burn anymore bandaged foes or to light dark halls. At the very end of the hall, once Dan discarded of any more threats, was a staff.

"That must be a key to something, but what?" Winston pondered. "There was another corridor I think Daniel! Let's try that one, maybe we'll find out what it is those two scoundrels were looking for."

Not that there was really much of an option. The chalice in this place was really easy to find too, along with a small stone tablet of the sort once more awful creatures were shooed off. So, to the other corridor they went, to claim their prize. At the very end was a lone mummy which charged at Sir Daniel. Too bad for him, Daniel was still carrying around that torch. That was the last soul he needed to fill the chalice too!

First he inserted the staff into a statue's hand, then pushed the tablet inside of its chest.

Slowly, a platform rose. Could it be? The same relic Sir Daniel used in his final battle against Zarok!?

The Anubis Stone!

 _…_  Well, a piece of it. It seems to have been broken into four again.

"Now I see what those two were after, the Anubis Stone! Palethorn probably wanted to use its power for evil, I bet." Winston chirped, floating around the Anubis Stone piece. In excitement, Sir Daniel walked over to it, ready to take it off the pedestal.

But another coffin opened before his hands could touch the stone. "Dan, look out! Winston yelled. "It's another one of them!"

A groaning sound came, but it was not as low-pitched and sounded rather feminine. Sir Daniel turned, taking out his sword and pointing it at the mummy that was dragging itself across the floor.

It was in fact, a girl. More accurately, seemed to be a princess of the sort. She had blue, decayed skin and black hair that was surprisingly not rotted away. Far more notably frail-looking than the other mummies that were running around in the tombs.

She was so weak, that when the mummy-princess reached for Daniel in an attempt to strike him, she merely collapsed. "Goodness gracious… Well, no need to worry about her then, so—" Despite the fact this one was clearly making an attempt to strike him, Sir Daniel lifted her off the ground. "Blimey Daniel! What you think you're doing?"

"Well, I can't leave royalty here in danger. It wouldn't be right of me," he mumbled, "let's take her back to the professor, he can do something, can't he?"

"Maybe, but— Hey now, don't leave without me!" Chasing after Sir Daniel with the woman in his arms, Winston huffed. "Oh, I really do hope this goes better than I expect, especially if she's under the spell from Palethorn too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved writing the Spiv back when I first made this. He was just some minor character that kept popping up in the original game, and I ended up building quite a bit off of him.
> 
> Mander originally has a slurred "s", but I decided that was annoying and removed it. People can use their imagination anyway.


	3. The Freakshow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sir Daniel heads to the Freakshow… gooble gobble, one of us.

Both Winston and Daniel arrived, the blue-skinned mummy still in his arms. "Fortesque, you made it!" Professor Kift then took off his glasses, looking at the princess. "Goodness me, who is that you have there?"

The body lunged up a bit, groaning at Sir Daniel and the professor. "Why… that's Princess Kiya, I believe! Normally, I don't think it's a good idea to bring an undead who seems to lack rational thoughts, but I suppose can make an exception, mainly because you probably don't want to leave a poor young woman behind, even if they're dead. Chivalry at its finest." When Daniel placed her on the ground, all the mummy princess could do was examine her surroundings.

"Hopefully she can get a normal mind at some point," Winston grumbled. "Anyway, Daniel, tell him what we found!"

Grinning, Sir Daniel took out a piece of the Anubis Stone, making Kift nearly drop his pipe in surprise. "The Anubis Stone? The one you had used in legends to defeat Zarok? That's the perfect counter for anything Palethorn is up to, how wonderful! Anything else to report?"

"Well," he mumbled, "there was a reptile and hound-like man. Also some… ship in the air?"

It took a moment for Kift to understand what Daniel was saying. "Reptile and hound? Ship in the air? I've never heard such a thing. Perhaps Palethorn's magic is reaching a zoo?" Daniel wondered if Kift knew more than his was letting on but decided not to press him about it. "Speaking of, Daniel, I would like for you to check out the Freakshow next. It's exactly what it sounds like, a place for all sorts of unnatural beings to gather, but with that horrible magic going on, who knows what might have happened! Are you up to it?"

"Certainly!" Admittedly, Daniel had never heard of a Freakshow. He wasn't exactly natural himself, being a walking skeleton and all. Before he left, Daniel decided to turn in the chalice he had found, just to get some new items.

* * *

"There we go!" Professor Kift said, finished with his work. "I've just replicated the hammer belonging to Stayner Iron Hewer with this energy! Surely you remember the strength of that weapon all to well, and you're bound to have a… Smashing time!" Kift then carried the hammer over, careful not to drop it on anyone's feet, while Sir Daniel groaned at the joke.

Though, once it was in his hands, Sir Daniel couldn't help but form a big, goofy grin on his upper-jaw. He made a lot of use of the Hammer years ago, and chances are Dan was going to make that use again.

"I also made this with what little I had left while I was at it. You should be able to sustain more life energy with this, Fortesque. Took a bit of work with some boiling chemicals and magic, but I did it!" Kift cheered, this time giving Sir Daniel a green bottle. "Be careful, it's still hot!"

Daniel had no clue that the professor really meant that it was that hot, and began fumbling around with the bottle before putting it away, shaking his hands from the heat. He chuckled slightly in embarrassment. Maybe now was a good time to ask some questions again? Daniel was curious about Kiya, along with that Spiv character he ran into earlier.

"Kiya is an Egyptian princess that was buried along with her 'fiancé' who died early. She tried to resist, but was executed regardless and mummified. Did you know that the ancient Egyptians liquified brains and let them drip out through a straw? They also removed all the organs except the heart!" Professor Kift explained in an excited manner, while Sir Daniel gagged, covering his mouth. "What's wrong? You look a bit ill. Anyway, you can, uh, imagine the reason why she's not so pleasant to speak with right now."

Sir Daniel now wished he had been in Kiya's era so that this sort of thing could have been prevented. He couldn't stand the idea of a noble lady dying for something as petty as an arranged marriage. All he could hope for was that Kiya became less zombie-like as time went on, though that was going to be hard without a brain.

"Oh, you met the Spiv?" Sir Daniel nodded, mentioning that to Professor Kift next. "Well, his real name is Monty, you know. He's actually also an old colleague of mine, dating back to when we worked with Palethorn. He kept trying to smuggle things from Palethorn and pawn them off. Honestly, it's amazing he hasn't been caught! He's a nice person underneath the shady business though, I know that much!"

Sir Daniel would have to take Kift's word for it. The Spiv may not have greeted him nicely, but maybe he really was a good person. If this was Gallowmere though, Daniel probably wouldn't be giving him the benefit of the doubt. He had met several dubious characters in time that were rotten on the outside and inside. Maybe Daniel would see the Spiv again at the Freakshow, once he got a move on that was.

"Be careful out there Fortesque," Professor Kift warned, "I don't know what the magic from Zarok's spell-book could have done over there, but it certainly can't be anything good. The last time I went to a Freakshow with Monty before it was cursed, I nearly lost my lunch. Hopefully, even with you lacking a digestive system, you don't get an upset stomach or anything like that." Kift coughed slightly, trying to repress any memories of that place.

How he was able to handle walking corpses, but not whatever was at the Freakshow was beyond Daniel's knowledge really…

* * *

Really, Daniel should have expected nothing less from something called a Freakshow. But he was plain baffled upon stepping into the area. Several baby-faced imps and deformities were running around. Not what he was used to, at all. What was worse is that he couldn't tell if they had any form of humanity in them.

"Don't worry Daniel, I think they've snapped a long while ago between Palethorn being in control and the ringmaster not being present." Winston then looked at the sight to before them. Bearded women, corpse-like characters with no legs, old magicians. "Gracious me! Daniel, did I ever tell you about the story of a performing woman and her lover who was a strong man, both who dared to try tricking a wealthy sideshow imp along with his family? For trying to poison the imp, all of the freaks turned her into 'The Human Goose'!"

Sir Daniel froze, looking frightened, but also curious and puzzled as to how in the world that was possible. "What happened to the strong man?" He asked.

"He… became a falsetto singer. You do the math." Sir Daniel didn't understand exactly what Winston meant by that, and took a moment to process it. When Daniel understood the implications, his irises shrank, shivers going down his body. Winston had a similar expression. In hopes of not becoming anything like that, Sir Daniel went ahead and took little hesitation in slaughtering any freaks that were hostile. There was also a "Whack-an-Imp" game in one of the tents.

Of course, someone like Sir Daniel wasn't going to turn that down for a moment. Gave his new weapon something to do besides squashing the usual enemies. It was a quick way to win some gold, a silver shield, and even another Life Bottle after the third victory. A perfect streak, and a great way to kill time. Good to know he still had it in him.

Too bad there weren't any target-shooting games that were active, or had anyone behind them at least. Winston would have scolded Dan for getting distracted, but he was too busy enjoying the scenery as well. Unfortunately, that track of that stopped, when the small ghost saw a familiar figure.

"Uh oh, I see trouble." With that, he hid behind Sir Daniel, while the skeleton also took his time to find a good hiding spot, spectating whatever was going on. Both of them could see the Spiv, but he seemed to be chatting with someone else.

It was the lizard-looking man from before. "I know it's been you who knows where these things are. You're the one who kept stealing stuff from Lord Palethorn for years. If anyone knows the location of valuables, it's you."

"Listen, Mander, I may be someone y'can drop rumors an' secrets off to, bu' tha' don't mean I 'ave any info Palethorn is lookin' for. I've never heard o' anythin' like a… Wha' was it now? Blood Chalice? Sounds like it'd make a good pretty penny. But really, yer the one who often spreads word an' trickery like the flu."

The one now known as Mander scoffed at him, unimpressed and partly insulted. "You cannot sell it, you imbecile. Lord Palethorn needs it to obtain… You know what? Forget it. I have better things to do than stick around a ruffian who doubles as the local park flasher! If you need me, which I doubt you will, I'll be at the Greenwich Observatory." With that, he exited, much to the dismay of the Spiv for that last remark.

"Aye mate, you wanna repeat tha' an' say it t'me face!?" The Spiv spat, as Mander slithered out of his sight, chuckling. Finally, Sir Daniel came out from his cover, and approached him, curious about what just happened. "Oh, you again? Sorry y'had t'see tha'. Uh, 'ow long were ya here for?"

Winston poked out from behind Daniel's back. "Greenwich Observatory, huh? Well, I think I know where we should look next when we're done here, right Dan?"

The Spiv then opened up the right-side of his coat, smirking. "Anythin' you interested in buyin' since yer here?"

Was it possible to get some information out of the Spiv, like with Kift? Sir Daniel might as well try, even if he had to empty his pockets just to learn more. In particular, Daniel was wondering about that Mander character, pointing in the direction he went in.

"Uh, I really don't wanna talk about 'im, mate." The Spiv grumbled. "I know I shouldn't speak, considerin' my shady business, but tha' snake in the grass is always tryin' t'use me knowledge for wha'ever Palethorn's up to. I've broken off years ago though, easier t'make a livin' from wha' I stole."

The pieces involving the professor, Lord Palethorn, and this guy were definitely starting to fit together now. It wasn't Daniel business so much, so he wasn't going to bother asking the Spiv why he broke off from Kift. What was that about an observatory though, which Winston got so excited over?

"Ooooh, you be careful if y'plan on goin' over there, mate. Ever since people 'ave been takin' watch of some astronomical things, there's been some sights t'behold! Some unidentified ships dropped these squid-like creatures. There's more I know, but, uh… it'll cost ya." The Spiv sneered, rubbing his fingers together, waiting to be paid.

It seemed like such a waste of the gold Sir Daniel had just won, but it wasn't like he needed a refill of supplies right now. Perhaps this info would be good for future reference anyway. Giving the Spiv about ninety pieces of gold, the crook's face started beaming.

"Ya really want me t'spill the beans on that? Alrighty then. About over a year ago, back when I was workin' with Palethorn, these creatures called 'Octomators' came from 'nother world! They take control of tanythin' tha' moves by latchin' onto their head. Thankfully, they're easy t'squash. But their leader, now, she's pretty scary if ya manage to peeve 'er. I know this only cause I stole some of 'er gadgets at one point. Sadly couldn't get away with 'em, since she caught on."

Beings from another world? That sounded pretty ridiculous, even to Daniel. Then again, he had some pretty odd things during his adventures, so maybe the Spiv was telling the truth? He wouldn't lie after he had just been paid, right? That was all Daniel wanted to know for now, he had to stop sitting around and get back to his quest.

"If y'see Mander," the Spiv said, "kick 'im around for me."

Moving on, Sir Daniel finally seemed to have reached the end of the Freakshow, even found the Souls Chalice, and filled it up. At least the imps weren't in some weird, mechanical… things, that would just be a nuisance to shoot down. Though, them constantly stealing Daniel's sword was pretty obnoxious.

On Daniel's way to exit the area soon, he saw a rather large crate, made as if to hold something similar to an animal… and itwas full of white feathers.

* * *

Maybe chickens were just running around the area. But that wasn't the case when Daniel stepped into a rather large tent. The ground was covered in more feathers. Winston gulped, this didn't bode well for him at all. Looking behind him as Sir Daniel kept walking, he gasped at what he saw next.

"No way," Winston muttered, "that story was real!?"

In confusion, Sir Daniel turned around. Nothing seemed to be where they came from… But when he looked up above…

There sitting down, was a large beast. It had a human body, but the head of a white goose. It flapped its feathered arms rapidly, honking as it landed with human legs, which were bent the other way like a waterfowl. Its hands and toes were webbed as well, fingernails growing out like claws.

Yeah. Zarok turning into a snake was far less disturbing in comparison. Daniel was ready for a lot of things, especially at a Freakshow, yet this was anything but one of them!

It began honking and hissing at the two of them. Getting up close to this thing would just be a death trap for Sir Daniel! So it was clear that he'd have to be like a hunter, and shoot down some geese on open season.

Problem was, geese were known to be aggressive. This was no exception, especially since this one was twice the size of Sir Daniel, and could take a lot of hits from the crossbow! The pistol did a bit more damage, but it was still shocking to see that this creature had such a strong will to live.

Between this creature eventually laying giant eggs that hatched into awful, rotten, acidic fluids and it sometimes waddling straight towards Daniel at full speed to peck at him, he was actually pretty terrified right now. He had been running around for over four minutes actually. There was no stopping this thing unless he killed it fast and used his ammo wisely! If Daniel ran out, it would just prove difficult to try and sneak up on this creature's back.

Well, except for when the beast charged so quickly, it poked a hole in part of the tent and got its head stuck. Couldn't really ask for a better chance to strike back than that. Sir Daniel raised his hammer, and dealt the last couple blows, before backing off. The awful thing just kept letting out horrible honking sounds repeatedly…

Until the Human Goose exploded into feathers and tar.

"Yuck!" Winston gagged, along with Sir Daniel who was really trying hard to not look at the messy scene. "I was wondering how those vengeful imps got the feathers to stay on her, but I'm not sure if I wanted the answer in this way!" Daniel only then remembered that the Human Goose was once a woman. He felt really bad, but by now, he was probably doing her a favor by ending that misery.

Chances are, she went nuts and was extremely long before Palethorn opened that spell-book. Thankfully now Winston and Sir Daniel could leave, go back to the lab, and maybe forget all that had ever happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the original, I made a mistake, giving Sir Daniel two items, when he only got one Chalice. I'm not sure how I made that screw-up, but it's fixed here.
> 
> Unsure whether I should change the Spiv and Palethorn's cockney talk. I'm worried it's irritating for readers, yet I also feel it adds to their character. Can't be as bad as Mander's hissing that I originally had.
> 
> Originally when I made this chapter, I said the Mechanical Elephant boss was boring, which I ended up replacing with a boss that was a tribute to the "Freaks" (the 1932 movie). I stand by that decision, and it was one of my favorite things to change. Gooble gobble!


	4. Greenwich Observatory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sir Daniel heads for Greenwich after chatting with Professor Kift. He loses his head in the process, literally.

Professor Kift wasn't at his desk this time when they returned, as it seemed he was trying to restrain Kiya from chewing on something instead. It was expected since she probably still lacked rational thought as of now. "Welcome back, Fortesque, and Winston of course!" Noticing the mortified expression on Sir Daniel and Winston's face, the professor immediately became worried. Oh dear, are you two alright? You look like you've seen an unexplainable horror." He then paused for a moment, probably knowing very well what they saw. "The Human Goose, I suppose? I neglected to tell you about that since it's a suppressed memory, and I apologize. No one should have to put up with that abomination!"

Sir Daniel just shuddered. "I am still trying to forget it happened, please do not remind me."

"Er, right, sorry Fortesque. Let me change the subject… was there anything else you saw at the Freakshow? Any leads?"

Winston of course took the chance to speak for Sir Daniel, who was still getting over the events. "Well, we found Mander! You know, Palethorn's colleague? He's heading for the Greenwich Observatory, so I figured it's a good idea to go there next. What do you think professor?" Kift was rather impressed that the two of them were stealthy enough to not be caught by someone as slick as Mander, but that just meant he must have been not paying attention at all.

"Brilliant, Winston dear boy! I don't know what Palethorn's old cronies Mander and Dogman are up to, but they must be stopped if it's bad news. Why, they already messed with those from far away, so why are they going back? Especially since the place is infested with those aliens now." He then scratched his head.

Already messed with them? Sir Daniel didn't want to know, actually. It just sounded like Palethorn's underlings were asking for trouble. Kiya stopped gnawing on what seemed to be a mannequin, confusing it for a real person she could try to eat the brains of, and looked over to Sir Daniel. Despite her… well, hunger, it seemed she had calmed down upon Dan's arrival for some reason.

Now was most likely a good time to turn in the next Souls Chalice. Sir Daniel was looking forward to whatever weapon he got next.

* * *

"Alright then, Daniel, here you go," Professor Kift called out to him, "I managed to replicate the axe from Bloodmonath Skull Cleaver! Truly, a terrifying warrior… and not really the best friend, but a worse enemy to have, right? Anyway, you can either smash this over someone's head or use it like a boomerang. Not sure how that works, but I'm willing to defy the laws of physics of an axe just to help you on your quest."

Bloodmonath, that was a name Sir Daniel remembered too well. Not because of him constantly yelling or belittling Daniel upon meeting, you would think someone like Fortesque would dislike Bloodmonath for that, but really, the reason he remembered that warrior so fondly was because he always called Daniel "Fortisskay", and was generally so over-the-top.

Someone like Daniel couldn't get mad at Bloodmonath for mocking him, because he was funny to listen to, at least compared to Woden, who was an outright jerk. Now, Daniel wanted to ask about Mander, and the other one that the professor had mentioned.

"Mander, why, that defenseless fool follows Palethorn out of fear, I tell you. Can't say I don't admire his suave personality. Outside of his cowardice, I wish I was more like him." The professor sighed, his lack of self-esteem showing more than usual. "Dogman though, he always ruined my equipment and never apologized. I wonder how Mander puts up with him… Funny thing about those two, they're complete opposites, but can't function without the other. Brains and brawn, I say! You should keep that in mind, however, Dogman doesn't function as rationally without Mander's smarts, while he can only strategize or run without the muscle near him."

This were definitely good to know, Daniel had a feeling he would have to confront them. Palethorn would probably sick the two goons on Daniel without hesitation. Daniel had to be prepared for every little thing after all. He was very inclined to ask about the otherworldly creatures as well, just to help paint the picture maybe.

"About a year ago when I was still working with Palethorn, we met an alien leader." Professor Kift explained. "I was too nervous to speak with her much, but she expressed interest in my scientific knowledge. Monty, back before he became a spiv was even worse than me though, he couldn't even make direct eye-contact! I suppose it was because she's rather frightening. Though her kind has become quite aggressive, I don't know much about them."

Those must be the Octomators that the Spiv had referred to. Daniel didn't take ol' Monty to be the type to be frightened by an alien leader, but Kift did say he was soft underneath.

Sir Daniel turned around to look at Princess Kiya. Did she have anything to say about any of this, or was she really kind of a vegetable all around? "Hello princess," he said while waving to her, "how are you, my lady? Er, majesty? Highness?"

She didn't respond. Her expression remained blank as a small bit of drool fell from her lips, eyes looking lazy like a zombie's. Not even a groan came from her. Kiya clearly didn't have the mental capacity for speech currently. She was listening, maybe, but had no idea what Sir Daniel was saying to her, and it wasn't because he lacked a lower jaw either. He felt like a fool for even trying, but at least Kiya wasn't jumping at the chance to eat someone's head off.

"Going off to see what Mander and Dogman are up to?" Professor Kift asked, followed by a nod from Sir Daniel. "Well, considering how their new forms probably reflect on their insides, do be careful of any snakes in the grass, Fortesque!… Or, I guess a dog maybe wanting to chew on your bones. I had a feeling someone with a name like that would become a hound. Oh yes, do be careful of anything, uh, otherworldly."

With a nod of understanding, Sir Daniel was ready to head to the next destination, until Kift got out of his seat again. "Oh, and some hawks are flying about… Yes, scavengers and predatory birds. They probably could smell death for all I know, and the fact you're still moving around makes you and other corpses a walking target!" Dan hesitated for a moment, before continuing on.

It really seemed like all forms of birds were just gonna be out for him today.

* * *

Right off the bat when Sir Daniel walked into the area, a bird swooped down, taking his head clean off Dan's shoulders. Just as predicted, being he's sometimes quite the magnet for bad luck even when warned ahead of time.

Winston panicked naturally. "Oh no, Daniel!?" He gasped. "He's been decapitated!" The ghost began sobbing uncontrollably, in quite the overdramatic manner. "Daniel, say something to me! Anything— Wait, you have no head… or jaw." He paused, before shifting back to being mournful. "Give me a sign, Fortesque, don't leave me out here!"

Suddenly, his arm raised, startling Winston and making him yelp. "Gah! _…_  Oh, right. You're already dead. I guess removal of your own cranium wouldn't mean much." He then laughed nervously, as Sir Daniel fumbled around, tripping on himself. "L-listen here Daniel! I think your controls may be inverted for a while until you get your head back, as annoying as that sounds…" Winton then began thinking.

How in the world were they going to get Sir Daniel's head back? Where was it even?…

"I've got it!" Winston snapped his fingers. "Can you hear me? Give a sign!" Sir Daniel waved his hand at Winston, as if in response. "Good! Good, now then, can you see where you are? From your head's perspective, that is." Stopping in his tracks, Daniel tried it right where he was standing.

His head was on bird's nest, on the top of a building. Too bad he really couldn't move his head on top of a hand or something like that. That awful bird was pecking at him too. Not too far off, but still, fighting off the zombies running around in sailor uniforms with "inverted movements" was going to prove quite the challenge.

Or, Daniel could just make a quick dash over to where his head was, avoid the sailor zombies, grab it, then go back to get rid of them. Yeah, other than some backtracking, that might have been easier for him. Sir Daniel ended up doing that instead. It didn't really matter.

Firing some bolts from the crossbow at the hawk, it flew away from the nest in surprise, allowing Sir Daniel to climb up and grab his head back. "That wasn't much trouble at all," Winston pointed out, "still, if you can move around without your head, that may be useful at some point or another. Maybe! Anyway, I'd say we should check out the observatory since something is going on, but the entrance is barred. We gotta find another way of getting in." His eyes then laid on a path that wasn't far off.

"Now I remember! There's an alternative route by the river, let's try that, shall we?" He suggested with a smile. Both he and Sir Daniel, of course, encountered a surprising amount of more predatory birds that were swooping down and trying attack Daniel. It only took a few shots to send them down, and it didn't seem there was much harm in ridding of a carnivorous pest that just eats things smaller than them.

Actually, getting rid of them made Dan kind of happy, just to think of all the smaller creatures. Little sparrows, blackbirds, and pigeons that wouldn't be in as much fear because of him. It was a weird way of looking at it, but Sir Daniel just didn't want to feel guilty. There was an upside to everything. He would be fine with every bird that isn't predatory or a goose by the end of the year probably.

Something was shifting around in the river waters though. It was large, green like a frog, but it had the body of an octopus. Daniel had to do a double-take to just in case he was seeing things. He was going to get a much better look once the creature leapt out of the water and lunged at Sir Daniel. It was only a third of his size, so it took little effort to be squashed by the hammer when it came too close. Evil souls were added to the chalice percentage that was slowly filling.

Wait, evil souls? But those were the otherworldly aliens. How could their souls be evil? Not that Sir Daniel was complaining, since they were trying to latch onto his face, and it seemed some of them had already gone to do so with the sailor zombies, making them more intelligent than prior, knowing exactly where to find Daniel.

After killing off both the aliens and zombies, Daniel remembered what the Spiv told him upon being paid. It was good advice worth paying for, even if no one should have to pay for hints of all things. Those creatures were called "Octomators", and were essentially able to use anything in their control as a puppet.

Luckily for Sir Daniel that he got his head back on so no Octomator would try to be his replacement of rational actions. No cephalopod-parasite was going to play with Sir Daniel Fortesque like he was some video game character.

Didn't take long for Daniel to find the Souls Chalice on top of a run-down boat, along with a Life Bottle inside one. As it turned out, taking off his head was needed so he could place it inside a small space while figuring out a puzzle. Perhaps that little incident with the hawk wasn't a total waste of time, now that he knew it could be used to his advantages more.

Everything was out of the way with the enemies disposed of and the bridge down once he solved that puzzle, after trying to figure out how many times four of the switches needed to be hit, while his movements were inverted that is. Thankfully, it was all over. Sir Daniel hurried along and found a door tucked into the corner of the area.

* * *

The last place already gave Sir Daniel a bit of an uneasy feeling… Not one of being scared, no, he already felt that at the Freakshow. More like one of being watched, and something just generally being ominous. He got into the indoor portion after killing more of those annoying sailor zombies, and…

Wow. Technology had advanced a lot. He knew that already from being near the professor, but this was a different level to him. The place was industrial, but several green lights were going off.

There was a book nearby as well. No point in not giving something a good read, was there? Maybe Sir Daniel could find answers in the near future for things. 

 

 

> _**CAPTAIN'S LOG** _
> 
> _**EARTH DATE 1890**_
> 
> _"Have we agree to Greenwich made that a temporary establishment until the Queen I meet of this segment of Earth planet… Palethorn plan makes. Cute kind of, he is. Interesting Earthling~♥_
> 
> _English, wording mine is not good. Teaching me are Kift and Montagew (correct?). Latter my things, he tries to steal! Trust don't. I but love industrial modern-less-than technology. My it's time worth."_

_…_

That was quite possibly the  _worst_  grammar and English Sir Daniel had seen. That would give Bloodmonath Skull Cleaver a run for his money in the ridiculous category, dear lord! Actually, if he showed this to everyone in the Hall of Heroes, they'd be all roaring with laughter, even the nonjudgmental Canny Tim or Megwynne.

Winston was trying so hard to not have a giggle-fit, and remain unseen unless Daniel needed him. Between all of the Octomators running around while corpses laid on the floor, as if there to be used as puppets at the ready.

Inside a tank full of a nasty green liquid was some sort of strange object. Once again, Sir Daniel had to stow his head inside of machinery just to activate a magnetic crane to pull whatever it was out of there, but not before taking his head back onto his own shoulders of course.

Bellows. Made of metal, and still in perfect shape despite being drenched in that awful liquid of unexplained origin. It must have gone to something, so Daniel carried it up to the next floor. Definitely not a coincidence at all that inside was an airship, designed like a dragon, and it could take flight with some sort of balloon.

All it needed was some torches to be lit with fire of course, and what else other than bellows that should have been hooked up? Just a few pumps by stepping on it and Sir Daniel was lifted into the air. He had a quick glance around the area, there weren't any enough evil souls that he felt should be collected, and there was no chalice in sight.

What a lucky break this was! One less thing to do on his hands.

But as fate would have it, that was about to change…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Grammarly, I swear to god, sometimes you pick up actual typos, other times you make more mistakes for me.
> 
> Yes, the comically bad wording from the alien captain (one of the few OCs in this tale) is staying. It's part of her character.
> 
> Originally when I posted this chapter, I said Mander was my favorite MediEvil 2 character, and I really wanted to write the boss fight with him and Dogman. That opinion has somewhat changed, he and the Ripper became my favorites. :P
> 
> Winston I also like, but more in this version of the story as opposed to the original game.


	5. Kew Gardens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After defeating Mander and Dogman, Sir Daniel heads to Kew Gardens, where he learns of a dark secret from the Spiv.

Stomping over to the humanoid lizard, Dogman growled, smelling the air. "Bones?" He kept sniffing around the place, while Lord Palethorn himself finally arrived, smoking a cigar and holding his cane.

Mander was fiddling with a very large machine, one that clearly didn't belong to them. No doubt, it looked as if it came from another world entirely, which would explain the presence of the Octomators. "Mander, is it ready?" He grunted, cracking his knuckles, making the lackey swallow his gut in fear.

"Yes, master. I have adjusted the Octomator Captain's great scope to find what we need. At the press of this button, the last page will be found, and you will be able to find a way to summon the—"

"Good. Wha'ever, I get it. Start the machine, start the machine!" Jumping at his retort, Mander pushed a button, making the machine glow and start buzzing violently. "Yes, soon, it will be mine! I will have the last page and… wait."

Palethorn then glanced up at air, eyes widening, extremely stupefied at what was happening.

"Wha' the devil?— Nooo!" He shouted.

There was Sir Daniel, on a balloon airship of all things, crashing into the great scope that Mander had spent so much time fixing up for Palethorn's needs.

"Looks like the circus came to town. In the form of a skeleton." Mander sighed, seeing all his hard work of making the scope do what he wanted, all gone and beyond repair. In a normal situation, he'd be furious, but working seemed to have drained all the energy from him.

But Palethorn on the other hand, was more than willing to vent. "Y'meddlesome fool, do you know wha' ya've ruined just now?!… Hold up now." He lowered the anger levels just a bit, just to examine the one who was responsible. "Tha' armor, missin' eye, jawless mug? You're Sir Daniel Fortesque! I recognize tha' rotten corpse of yours from the museum."

"Uh oh," Daniel said with a gulp. The one time Winston didn't show up, and it was when Sir Daniel was cornered by Palethorn and his men.

"Hmm… No. I may be quite angry right now. But I'm sure my lackeys want to take it out on ya more or something for making their time feel like a waste. Mander, y'deal with this wretch! I'm gettin' out of here to cool down, maybe smash some equipment even if it breaks my hands." With that, he exited.

"But… I mean, yes master…" Mander stuttered. He was a bit too tired to do anything, yet he there was no use in defying Palethorn. "Time to break some bones Dogman."

"I knew it!" He barked. "Bones, bones bones!"

"Shut up, you don't know anything. I'm the brains here, and you're only the brawn." It was tempting for Mander to smack Dogman, but he didn't. Instead, he pointed his cane stick at Sir Daniel, while flicking his long, forked tongue and hissing at him.

Right off the bat, Daniel knew he shouldn't get close to Dogman. Creating a shockwave with his hammer at a safe distance, or perhaps firing a long-ranged weapon might do the trick for him. Which one should he focus on taking out first though?

* * *

(Dogman disposed of first)

"Ohhh, shoot!" Mander panicked, holding his cane and shuddering at Dogman falling down. "You stupid dog, get up, I command you!" He looked back at Sir Daniel, and swallowed his gut down once more. "Ahem, very well. I, Mander, shall be your opponent, sir knight. And I do not intend to hold back any longer!"

He faked a chuckle, pushing a button on his cane stick and making it extend into something similar to a staff. "Let's see what you've got!" He then began taunting the knight while spinning around with it, like it was a pole.

Mander had such a boost in adrenaline there, speeding around the room, firing magic attacks and trying to whip Sir Daniel with his own tail. He had thankfully weakened Mander before taking out Dogman, but it was still pretty annoying. Keeping distance really wasn't going to work anymore this time, because of Mander being able to use spells that did a lot of damage if Daniel couldn't dodge it in time. The best option was to just go to town with his hammer, since Mander was more frail than Dogman.

* * *

(Mander disposed of first)

"Hm, Mander? You okay, partner?" He sniffed the fallen lizard and then laughed. "Hah! That dead weight, always acts like I lack a brain like those zombies running around. That guy holds me back, even when I know what I'm doing… sometimes." Dogman stood up more straight, arms stretching out a little.

Sir Daniel was quite shocked at this turn of the "dumb muscle" character. Either Dogman wasn't as stupid as he seemed, or maybe he didn't want Mander constantly holding him on a leash. "Now then… Bones, I'll chew you up!" Howling at Daniel, Dogman lunged at him.

Clearly, Mander was around to keep him coordinated for a reason. Dogman kept running straight for Daniel, but either had to stop in place to find out where he dodged to, or he ended up crashing into a wall. As long as Sir Daniel avoided it all in time and fired loads at him with the pistol, the fight was a bit one-sided.

Once they were both knocked out cold, Sir Daniel knew it was time to get out of there. Chances are that Palethorn was already out the building. No point in being around an area filled with more Octomators or birds that may try to steal his body and head respectively.

* * *

"Sorry I wasn't there much to help you, Daniel. Admittedly, dogs frighten me a little. Got chased around by them a lot when I was alive." Winston confessed on their way back to the lab, looking partly ashamed as he finally reappeared by Sir Daniel's side.

"Fortesque, well done my friend. Winston told me ahead of time that you went and thwarted Palethron's plans, one of the best pieces of good news thus far! If he doesn't have all the pages of the spell-book, then he can't have full control of the undead, nor can he summon… er, never mind."

What were they trying to hide from Daniel? He felt like something was being kept from him. Was there something about Zarok's spell-book he didn't know about?

"At the Kew Gardens, something is going on there I believe." Kift then smoked his pipe nervously. "There's something there actually, but I'd be surprised and somewhat appalled if you found it! Better off just letting Palethorn get that, because," he trembled further, "I should stop talking, really. Just let me know when you're ready to leave, alright?"

Sir Daniel wasn't sure what to make of the professor acting so strangely. He was definitely hiding something…

* * *

Kift finally got out of his seat and handed Sir Daniel a strange new weapon, one that Daniel had never handled before. "I want you to have this, Fortesque, I know you aren't familiar with this sort of weapon, but you may need it. It's a lance! you charge it up, and unleash a mighty piece straight at whoever is coming towards you! A tad heavy, but better than a measly wooden spear, right? It's also good to swing around large groups of enemies, though that's not as effective."

For one thing, Daniel didn't exactly appreciate the small insult to Imanzi's spears. Her long-range weapon may not have been as useful on his previous quest in comparison to the crossbow from Canny Tim or RavenHooves' longbow, which could have either fire or magic added, but when he needed a back-up, they were certainly a better alternative than throwing knives!

But he did appreciate this. Sir Daniel stumbled a little bit to hold the large weapon, before grinning slightly. Now, maybe he should try and learn a few things from the professor. The first on Daniel's mind being what Mander asked the Spiv about. It was a while ago, but he remembered them vividly.

 

Blood Chalices, what exactly were they?

"W… where did you hear that from!?" Kift stammered. "Mander and the Spiv were talking about it in the Freakshow? Please, Daniel, I do not want to have to explain that to you, for your own sake. Once you're on the verge of finding one, all I can say is, you can't stop or turn back. Do not satisfy your curiosity on this!"

Yikes. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know the details, but for all he knew, it could be good information on how to stop Lord Palethorn. Maybe he could get answers on the alien stuff he read about? Daniel couldn't help but chuckle, remembering the bad grammar from that journal entry.

"What? You read that the Octomator Captain was fond of Palethorn?" Kift questioned, raising a brow. "I'm not too surprised actually. What with him being such a successful industrialist and attracted to power, I had a feeling, but I never wanted to tell Monty that. And yes, Monty and I did help her with learning english. I just wish I could have done more to improve that grammar of hers."

That was definitely interesting to know, as it was just about time for him to part ways with this place once more.

"I… well, good luck." Kift said with a sigh.

It seemed that the professor was extremely tense. Pressing him for further information would prove hopeless, so Daniel was better off just heading for his next stop and maybe asking the Spiv if he was nearby.

And considering how he was always in weird places, Daniel knew that the Spiv would be there. Though, getting certain kinds of information did have a price.

* * *

Palethorn puffed out a cloud of smoke from his cigar, sitting in his airship. "Ah, Mander. I trust tha' weird skeleton tha' used to be the Hero of Gallowmere was taken care of? Was his demise suitably unpleasant for ruinin' everythin'?" Mander tugged at his own collar, looking a tad nervous.

"Master, he proved to be, er, quite a resilient foe." He didn't want to admit he and Dogman were defeated, making an excuse, as lying was one of Mander's many talents. "He managed to evade us and tried to take off after you—"

"What!?" Palethorn shouted in response. It seemed that it didn't matter if he lied to his own master. "Good grief man, what do I pay ya for!? The two of ya are worse than useless, I swear." He groaned, glancing to a figure at the side of his ship. "Between this latest spell bein' a success, and my new right-hand man over here, I can dispense with your services sooner."

"You don't pay me at all— wait, new right-hand?" Feeling his stomach drop, Mander looked over to the dark figure.

A large centaur, covered in a dark aura, gleaming red-violet eyes, holding both a longbow and a lance.

"The perfect counter for someone like Fortesque, the Hero of Gallowmere… Has an utmost skill, far better than wha' you two are capable of. But enough abou' tha'. You there!" The centaur stood up straight, menacingly. "Open the gate, let us test out the results of tha' pumpkin spell!" Obeying Palethorn's word, he tugged on the pulley, which opened a small little prison of the sort.

Out came a monstrous, pumpkin monster which approached the man, cornered and cowering in fear. A loud scream followed, panning the focus back onto a disgusted Mander, and an amused Palethorn.

What was once a normal human, now had a parasitic pumpkin leeching off his head. "Just like those nasty Octomators, but more useful." Chuckling, Palethorn hopped into his airship along with Mander, as they looked back at the centaur. "If ya see Fortesque, ya know wha' to do."

Slowly, the centaur nodded. "Yes, my lord."

By this time, Sir Daniel and Winston had finally come in. "Looks like Palethorn has taken control of the plant life here Daniel! We gotta stop this!" Their eyes then laid on… Humans. With pumpkins eating their heads similar to the Octomators, but more like a seed or virus.

"Infections! Now, my science knowledge isn't the best, but I do know antidotes for these sorts of things." Winston chirped, feeling he could be helpful for this. "I remember reading it in a book about types of parasitic creatures that spread disease. In order to make the antidotes to save people, you've got to kill the original and take the acids that they pour out upon dying! They use that acid to burn their own bodies, so no one takes it for their own use. Strange how they work, but considering they're monsters and all, I guess common sense is odd to them."

Simple enough for Sir Daniel. He took out his newly acquired lance, and was about to drain them of antidote and evil souls, when Winston stopped him. "Oh, just one more thing. You can also maybe just, slice the parasite off of them, but… it's really risky! We don't want any of these people getting killed, right?"

Winston made a good point. Perhaps the lance was a bit too risky right now. Sir Daniel could accidentally hit the people when trying to go after those monsters. He was a bit low on ammo however after his previous fight against Mander and Dogman though, so this would be a perfect time to go buy some bolts and bullets from the Spiv.

Making his way over past some giant pumpkins that were rolling around, something that all too familiar for Sir Daniel as he had put up with this before when Zarok was trying to take over Gallowmere hundreds of years ago. The only difference being the whole antidote thing and humans getting in the way a little bit.

"Good to see ya again mate. What can I do ya for?" The Spiv opened up the right-side of his coat, smirking.

Buying a few bolts and bullets, Sir Daniel knew this was the perfect chance to squeeze information about the Blood Chalices, among maybe other things. "How are you today, uh, Monty?"

"Heh," the Spiv chuckled, "tha' name don't exist anymore. Tha' would imply I'm a well workin' man. Only a petty crook remains 'ere, no Monty. Just a spiv."

What a strange response… speaking of, didn't Monty, or the Spiv rather, teach the Octomator Captain some english? Daniel didn't know why, but he figured he should tell the Spiv about what he read in that journal, like how he asked Kift about it.

The Spiv's eyes widened under his hat as Daniel told him what he knew. "Wha'? She liked Palethorn of all people? 'Ave y'got proof?" The Spiv questioned, while Sir Daniel stood there, a little surprised that he was reacting to that of all things. "Y'read it in a journal in Greenwich?" The crook muttered in defeat. "So, uh, why should I care? I don't care! I just helped teach 'er some english, and maybe try to pick-pocket 'er. Wha' did she see in tha' fool anyway? Bah!"

That went much differently than expected. Nothing of value was learned either, so Daniel decided to ask about the Blood Chalices instead.

"First Mander, now you, huh? I don't know anything. Sorry mate." The second he said that, Sir Daniel brought up a reasonable sum of gold in front of the Spiv's face, who immediately changed his mind. "Daniel, why y'gotta be persistent? Give y'credit though, ya put more effort in milkin' info outta me than Mander does." Taking the money and shoving it in his pockets, the Spiv fessed up. "Alright, fine. In places where groups of people gather, portions of a demon's 'Black Knight Armor' are near. But it'll only show up to those worthy enough to fill it with bloods of the innocent. Once one starts, they cannot stop. Especially if they already got a connection to tha' demon."

There was a long pause between the two of them. Sir Daniel was absolutely baffled. This sort of cruel artefact was connected to Zarok's spell-book? It shouldn't have been shocking, considering the kind of person Zarok was, but…

The Spiv's usual shady grin faded, the eyes under his hat staring directly at Daniel. "Y'wouldn't kill innocent civilians now, would ya Dan?" The Spiv questioned. "I mean, I thought y'were the Hero of Gallowmere, but if y'prove me otherwise, I won't complain."

No, Daniel could never kill another person, even if he wanted to. Demons, undead, and whatever beasts he stumbled upon, but not actual people! That sort of thing was out of the question for the Hero of Gallowmere. Turning around, unnerved, he started to leave the Spiv.

"Follow whatever path y'want. I can't stop ya… But once y'make the choice here, y'can't go back."

Sir Daniel felt chills in his rib cage, rather than his spine. It was best to just cure everyone and move on already!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where the separate path for an "evil ending" can take place. I think I should make that a separate fic from this one, due to the key differences in the storyline. (IE: Not saving Kiya, Professor Kift escaping the story, the Ripper turning more into an anti-hero character against the main "antagonist")


	6. The Dankenstein Parts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After fighting an unexpected opponent in Kew Gardens, Sir Daniel has an unexpected dilemma on his hands.

Right. Now that everyone was ridden of those awful, pumpkin parasites, puzzles were solved and being stuck in a practical gauntlet of those creatures, Daniel thought he had reached the end finally.

"Say, Dan," Winston wondered, "I know it's a garden and all, but for what purpose do people have to bring in a horse?"

… A horse?

Daniel looked up at the cliffside, his single eye widened in shock.

It couldn't be! He had killed him for good a long time ago! His body should have disintegrated back into the dust at best when Zarok used him, so how did Lord Palethorn…

No matter what the explanation was, there stood Lord Kardok. Menacing as usual, and turning around to face Sir Daniel. He was so frozen in place that he couldn't run from Zarok's own champion, the one that had killed him no less.

"Sir Daniel Fortesque," he grunted, "I've waited for this day… For this battle to come, for my revenge to be at hand! Palethorn gave me life, just so I could see that jawless face of yours, and take out your other eye." Kardok then withdrew a lance, pointing it at the knight across from him. "Are you ready? If you aren't, then go back… if you are, then take another step past the gate, and let us fight!"

Unsheathing his new lance as well, something felt… really off to Sir Daniel. Never before had Lord Kardok been this talkative, nor did he carry around a lance. Zarok often spoke for him if anything. Either it was Kardok's burning fury for revenge, or…

No. Daniel couldn't think about this kind of thing right now. He was going to face his fears! Well, one of _many_ fears. This was just a stepping stone, and then Sir Daniel would go further. He was the Hero of Gallowmere, and some old enemy he defeated before wasn't going to stop him.

"You accept this? Very well. Your fate will be in my hands!"

With that, Kardok galloped down the rather steep cliff, and leapt into the air, making a perfect landing. "Show me what you've got after all this time!" He then charged at Sir Daniel, his lance pointed straight where his other eye was.

Rolling out of the way to counter with a pierce to his sides, Kardok lightly yelped, something that Sir Daniel was not used to at all from him. Regardless, he turned around and put away the jousting-lance for a longbow. "I hope you remembered your death!" Taking several arrows out from the quiver on his back, multiple rounds were shot across the field.

In retaliation, Sir Daniel took out his crossbow, pointing it at Kardok from afar. "Things I remember all too well… This was one of them!" He then went further away from Daniel, as bolts were constantly fired at him. "Here I come!" It took a moment to react once again on time, counter with the heavy lance.

"Gracious, this sure is an intense fight!" Winston cheered, watching the battle in awe. "I never thought I would get to see Lord Kardok and Daniel Fortesque duel, but… Wait, watch out Dan!" The ghost exclaimed, "He's up to something!"

Frustrated, Kardok set the arrows on fire. "But can you handle… this?" He cackled, shooting another set of arrows, that torched some of the plants around Sir Daniel. "You are so very persistent, not only in battle but on your quests. I will not allow you to hinder Lord Palethorn's plans! I was gifted with life, a chance, to finish my job, once and for all." He then came charging at the hero again, in hopes that Sir Daniel was distracted for a mere moment.

However, it was actually Kardok who was not paying attention. So focused on getting a hit on Sir Daniel and thinking he would do the same strategy, got his own face met with the axe. Being hit by such a blunt object while running fazed him quite a bit, which bought enough time for Sir Daniel to land the last few hits while Kardok was dizzy.

That was enough to wear the remaining patience and stamina Kardok had. "Enough!" He panted. "Fortesque… this is not fair, nor is it right!… But fine, victory is yours right now, merely because I forfeit." Struggling to keep his legs up, he galloped away. "I shall see you again soon, Fortesque. I have bought Lord Palethorn enough time, that is all that matters. Farewell!"

With that last word, he galloped away, though in a notably clunky manner.

No more time could be wasted, Sir Daniel hurried back to the lab.

* * *

About half an hour after he turned into the Souls Chalice, Sir Daniel was pacing around until he had bumped into Princess Kiya, who stood in front of him. She looked, well, rather dead as usual, but for once, spoke instead of groaning like a regular zombie or being completely silent.

"Give… weapon." She held a sword out to him. The weapon shook in both of her palms, she was clearly having trouble keeping a grip on it.

A hero's sword! Just like the one Woden gave Daniel previously. Woden the Mighty, that was one of the few faces Sir Daniel didn't really miss. He was quite the jerk. Not many in the Hall of Heroes seemed to like his harsh attitude either. Perhaps on the inside, he was jealous of Daniel being so loved, even if ridiculed at times, but still.

Professor Kift meanwhile, was wandering around in another room, an experimental table was nearby along with a jar with a brain in it. "I'm afraid I have bad news, Daniel. Palethorn is launching an all-out attack on us!" The professor said, with the usual stammer in his words. "He located me, and well, he made a giant monster that looks capable of crushing us all! Our only hope is to make our own to fight back."

"Uhh, slow down please," Sir Daniel mumbled, "can you explain that in more detail? What exactly happened?"

"Right, sorry," Kift replied, clearing his throat. "While you were gone for a while, Palethorn came in with his goons. He would have attacked, but surprisingly, Kiya stopped him! I guess his control over the undead isn't at one hundred percent. Between me not wanting Kiya to eat him, or not wanting Palethorn to ruin any of our chances to save London, we made a deal."

"Deal?"

"Yes, if our monster could defeat his own, I would get a brain in return. Not like the one here, which was preserved from an old, fighting warrior. No, one that Princess Kiya could use! She has gotten a little better since her stay here, and even can surprisingly help with embalming. But I figured we needed someone more strong, and thankfully, Palethorn does keep spare brains around."

"What if they win, professor?" Winston asked.

"Then… well, they didn't want Kiya because she would obviously put up too much of a fight or gnaw on them. They didn't want anything I had! Instead, Palethorn asked for you. More accurately, his current 'right-hand man' told Palethorn that  _you_  would be a much better prize, for various reasons unsaid."

Sir Daniel's usual expression dropped, and if he had a stomach, it would've sunk right there. How could he be offered as a prize!? More-so, what in the world did Lord Kardok and Palethorn want with him? Aside from maybe being food to Dogman.

"Again, I'm really sorry Daniel, they wouldn't accept anything else, no matter what I tried! Can you do me a favor? The brain and head are already here. But the limbs and torso, well, I reanimated them during some experiments over a year ago, making them mutate into ghastly creatures. Now they all just run around like insects. I know I'm probably being a nuisance when I ask, but could you please grab the following for me?"

  * Right Arm
  * Left Arm
  * Right Leg
  * Left Leg
  * Torso
  * Pelvis



Even if the mission seemed a bit gross, Sir Daniel wasn't going to decline. The professor was probably a bit stressed and overwhelmed, thus his rather nervous tendencies. Besides, if he didn't help, chances were that Daniel was going to be taken away by his enemies.

It wasn't even that much trouble despite the mutations running around and attacking him. Bringing them back safely was a non-issue too, as long as he dashed straight back where the professor was.

On his way to grab the right leg, however, Daniel stopped. There was a photograph hanging on the wall, appearing to be recent rather than hold. He somehow had never seen it before.

Professor Kift himself was it, though with normal hands as opposed to the metal ones. Alongside him was a shady-looking man, presumably "Montague", before he became a spiv. There was a tall, skinny man in a hat and scarf, covering up most of his face, and a bulkier fellow with an odd, wrinkled face. A man looking just like Palethorn, minus his rather demonic features. Finally, there was a green-skinned woman wearing a gas mask and uniform, who arguably stood out the most.

Though it was hard to tell with the woman in the gas mask and the man with the hat, everyone seemed to be smiling, except for Palethorn, who looked unimpressed.

Surprisingly enough for Daniel, the mutations gave off evil souls. Part of him was convinced that these things coming to life may have been Palethorn's doing, and not just the reanimation gone wrong. Not a bad thing at all, since it seemed a Souls Chalice was hanging around on top of a machine of some sort. Did Kift even know it was there? Then again, he was a bit of a short fellow.

Not wasting any more time, he collected each and every part, then returned them. The only one that gave Sir Daniel trouble was the pelvis, which thrust itself around each corner of the room. It was the only one Daniel felt a little grossed out about carrying over.

"I can't thank you enough, Dan!" Kift sighed in relief, running over to grab a small jar, containing a head.

Winston's eyes laid on an uneven metal tile, and his eyes widened. "Professor! Watch where you're going!"

"Hm? What do you m— Yikes!" Feet getting caught, Kift fell over, losing the jar, which went flying out of his hands. It flung upwards, and then back down, onto the floor.

 

… And only a small crack was made.

All three of them calmed down. "Whew, a close one, I should say!" Winston laughed, while Sir Daniel went over to pick it up.

Before he could though, the jar had rolled over to the stairs instead, falling down the whole small flight of them, and then finally breaking into pieces, leaving the head to immediately start rotting away.

"Oh, why am I a walking piece of bad luck for whatever or whoever is near me?" Professor Kift groaned, trying to hold back sobs. Sir Daniel tried to comfort him, helping the older man up onto his feet.

"Brains?" Kiya shifted, looking at the mess.

"Hey now professor, don't worry! We just gotta find a replacement, don't we?" Winston said, trying to also cheer Kift up.

"I know that of course, but how? That contained the brain of someone who knew how to fight, and Palethorn isn't going to play fair and give us one!" Kift then looked around the room.

Kiya? No, she even didn't have a brain. Though she _was_ a bit vicious, she was also quite the biter. That wouldn't be a good fight at all.

Winston? He was just a boy! Didn't know how to fight at all, except doing a few kicks and slaps, or very wimpy punches. At best, he could go below-the-belt, but that would be worse than biting.

Sir Daniel? There really any other options for Kift. He was experienced in combat, just not with anything that didn't involve weapons, so he would have to learn. Not to mention, he put up fights that usually didn't involve cheap tactics, and was more focused than the other two at least.

Rubbing his head out of stress, Kift pulled up a step ladder. "I'm really sorry Daniel, but… it looks like I may need you one more time for this."

"Huh?" Before he could ask, Sir Daniel's head was popped clean off by the professor. Just when Daniel thought he could take a break, he was placed right back into a ridiculous situation.

Though this time, it wouldn't even be his own body under control.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The lance was a completely new item, meant to replace the bombs and cane stick, which were beyond useless. The lance has two uses, which is the Lord Kardok fights. I failed to mention that earlier because it would spoil things.
> 
> Why is Lord Kardok back? Well, if you read the original on FF.net, you'll know what's actually going on, and it's even hinted at here… but mainly, it was based off a dream I had, where Sir Daniel would fight against an opponent using a lance. Honestly wish that was in one of the games.


	7. Dankenstein vs. Iron Slugger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sir Daniel defeats the Iron Slugger, and obtains a brain for Princess Kiya. However, he's soon met with a fork in the road…

"Yes, it is alive!" Professor Kift stepped away from his creation, which had Sir Daniel's skull on top of it. "Behold, the Dankenstein monster!" He then paused in awkward silence. "Hmm, why do I have a feeling in a couple hundred years, that name will be made fun of?"

Daniel, on his new body, merely shrugged. It wasn't exactly comfortable since he was so used to the skeletal one for so long. Plus, this wasn't flesh that seemed natural to him in the slightest. And Dan was going to have to use it against some monster Palethorn made.

There wasn't any time for dawdling around though, Daniel had to get his act together since he never fought with his arms before… Except when he pulled one off to use as a weapon, but that didn't count.

He made his way over to the ring, preparing for a fight. And in the arena, was Lord Palethorn, talking to an audience… Which didn't really exist. Really the only ones there were Mander, Dogman, and Kardok on one side. Kiya and Winston sat on the other, while… Outside, was some floating object that he didn't recognize. Too bad, Daniel half-way expected the Spiv to be selling tickets at a rather odd price.

Not an ideal set-up, but at least this meant Daniel didn't have to worry about stage fright. "Laaaadies and gentleman!" Palethorn shouted, despite the small crowd that included a rather brainless Kiya as usual. "Or, just one lady, kinda. Welcome, to Fight Night! Palethorn promotions, in association with the forces of darkness, bring you a match to the death between these two."

Palethorn then directed at Sir Daniel Fortesque. "In the white corner! Scaling to about two-hundred and eighty pounds of mostly dead weight, with a record of no fights and no wins in a ring before, Dankenstein!"

Although Daniel looked excited for a moment, it instantly faded when a mix of howls from Dogman and hissing from Mander erupted. Kardok remained completely silent, as if hiding some form of anger. Winston was cheering at least though.

"In the black corner, weighing six-hundred and sixty-six pounds, with an unbeaten record of sixty-six straight kills for wins. The unbeatable, the unstoppable, the Iron Slugger!" The monster turned around, being a horrible mix of metal and organs. Mander and Dogman then roared with support, while Kardok once again had no reaction other than a growl of disapproval. Winston was just blowing raspberries and sticking his tongue out.

Come to think of it, Daniel had seen that mess of parts before, inside an abandoned-looking house in Kensington. But he didn't acknowledge it much beforehand. Now, Sir Daniel was starting to regret not destroying those when he had the chance. "I don't think I need to say wha' the prize is at stake, let's get this show on the road!" Stepping away from them and out of the arena, Kift climbed in as soon as Palethorn left.

"Er, okay, I want a good, clean fight! No hitting below the belt, the first one to get a knockout is the winner. Lost limbs can be fixed up between rounds. Shake, and let's fi— Aaaaiiiie!" The Iron Slugger punched Kift out of the ring, letting out a mechanical laugh as he prepared himself.

Right, that was enough to tell Sir Daniel to not hold back. He knew almost nothing about hand-to-hand combat, but it wasn't going to stop him from trying to knock off the Iron Slugger's head. Daniel started off with a few uppercuts to his jaw, only to get punched in his own head and become dazed from just how hard the Iron Slugger's hits were.

The Iron Slugger delivered a punch to Dan's gut, making his right arm pop off already. In retaliation, Daniel returned the favor by sending a hard enough blow to the Iron Slugger's limb, popping it off. Oil was spilling out of him, and he became more aggressive.

Headbutting Sir Daniel who then responded with a jab, both of their legs popped off. Now oil was getting mixed with a green, icky fluid. "Ten seconds left!" Palethorn shouted, gritting his teeth. There was no way Daniel was going to finish off his unbeaten creation in a single go, was he? Impossible, he'd just have to go back to square one if that happened!

Both of them had lost their arms entirely and were pretty worn. It went from a boxing match to seeing who could ram the other out of the ring like they were goats or something. Though between the Iron Slugger losing oil much faster and his legs not being built well enough, the last limb fell off.

Since kicking the Iron Slugger was too risky and could just make Daniel fall apart further, all he could do was just slam his weight one last time onto his opponent.

Losing all his fluids and strength, the Iron Slugger's head was knocked clean off, and landed near Palethorn's feet. "Wha' in the… but this is impossible! How did my best creation get beaten by—"

"Youfool!" Kardok finally yelled, approaching Palethorn. "Was I not correct when I said that something that could fall apart so easily would be no match for Fortesque? You should have let me deal with it!"

"Bah, you lost last time!"

"And? Even Dogman could do a better job than that… thing! All that weight in oil, metal, and meat, but no skill. What is that?"

Kardok then pointed at the floating object, which appeared to actually be a camera drone. It seemed to have noticed that it was spotted, and tried getting out of there. "Oh no y'don't!" Palethorn snarled, swatting his cane harshly at the machine, which was far too slow in getting away. "Bloody nuisance is still alive out there. If y'can hear me, then lemme tell you this, no one can help you! As for the rest of ya, curse you all! Y'think ya won?! I'll have my day, and when I do, I'll—"

"The brain, Palethorn? I believe we had an agreement for this fight. Did we not?" Kift smirked, trying to adjust his broken glasses and tapping his foot.

In further anger, Palethorn stormed off, pointing to his lackeys. "You three! Give them the brain!" Mander gulped, while Dogman left and returned with a cart full of jars.

Huffing, Kardok eyed Mander carefully. "You and Palethorn better keep your word. I would hate to see you had tricked Fortesque and his allies." Well, there goes Mander's backup plan. Professor Kift looked over each one, thinking about each possible result.

"Nurse, that could be helpful, but I think we're done with embalming… Duchess? Ech, I don't really want Kiya to be prissy in a grimy area like this." He then smiled upon seeing one brain in particular. "Independent? That will do!" Kift picked it up, glancing at the floor, so he didn't trip this time on anything. "Come along Fortesque! We're going to implant this new brain in Kiya!"

Before he followed the professor, Sir Daniel waited for Palethorn's goons and Kardok to leave first. Mander slithered on out, tugging Dogman on a leash like he was an actual pet that was out of control. Had they ever tried to locate the lab again, then Daniel wouldn't mind giving them all the boot despite their larger numbers.

Yet Kardok just kept staring. "I have not told them what you're hiding there, because I want to be the one that presents your being to Palethorn. Even though it was my idea that you were the prize, I am actually glad you defeated the Iron Slugger." With that, he trotted on out.

Something definitely wasn't right to Sir Daniel about how Lord Kardok was acting. He had more… honor? Like it seemed he was actually sparing Daniel from any potential humiliation and was willing to stand up against Palethorn. It was all too strange, and Daniel couldn't put his bony finger on it.

* * *

Kiya rose up from the experimenting table, holding her head. "Ugh," she groaned, "where am I?" She looked around, seeing Kift and Sir Daniel. "What? Who are you two!?"

"It's a long story, but you've been with us for a while. Maybe replacing the brain means she doesn't remember us and all. Was doing this really okay?" Winston asked. Kiya then glanced down at herself, slightly shocked to see she was a corpse. "You're Princess Kiya! Buried with your fiancé hundreds of years ago. Uh, does that ring any bells?"

"Not really, but… I honestly don't remember my previous life either." Kiya shrugged, getting up carefully. "So I'm more than willing to accept that history. Where is this then?" She would have questioned the presence of the ghost and walking, talking skeleton, but assumed they were friendly. She was no different than them right now.

"My lab! Sir Daniel Fortesque found your body, and didn't hurt you out of chivalry. Since then, we wanted to get you a brain, and we did. You're now a mummy, capable of rational thoughts and actions… But, what are you—" Professor Kift was going to ask further questions, but was interrupted.

Kiya looked at the gramophone that was inactive, lying there on a table. "Oh, I remember one thing though. This right here… I can fix it if you like!" She then got to work before Kift could respond with a yes or no. "There! With this… I can play some music for you. Daniel, was it? Why don't you try it?" Sir Daniel's interest slightly piqued at the offer.

Perhaps now was a good time to sit back and relax for a while, until Professor Kift told him where to go next.

* * *

"Well, we won that round, now that Kiya has a brain! But, we haven't gotten out of the woods just yet. In fact, right now, I'm picking up two areas of extreme, powerful psychic disturbances. Both are extremely threatening, and I feel one has to do with the Anubis Stone. Whitechapel, and Wulfrum hall respectively. Pity we can't find a way to send you to two places at once."

Kiya raised her head while polishing up some weapons. "Professor, why don't I go?"

"What? That… that's far too dangerous, you just got a brain!" Kift protested, Sir Daniel seemed to be against the idea as well, but Kiya just pouted at them.

"Oh come now, you freed me from my tomb, Daniel, and you gave me a brain, Kift… I don't wish to be imprisoned again! I want to see the world, help in fights, yet be careful. Besides, I may not remember who this brain belonged to, but I can feel one thing, and that's my ability to fight back any rogues." Kiya proclaimed with utmost confidence. "I'm not a just some pretty, damsel princess despite being in the body of one!"

Both of them paused, still unsure. "As long as you return at the first issue and know what you're doing, you can go to Whitechapel. Daniel, you go to Wulfrum Hall. However, I must warn you! There's a killer on the loose, I think. Are you absolutely sure about this, Kiya?" The princess nodded again, grabbing a nearby pistol and dagger.

That settled it for now, yet Daniel was still concerned. Maybe turning in the Souls Chalice he found in the lab would help take his mind off of things.

* * *

 

"Daniel," Kiya said, "I helped the professor make this one for you!" She giggled, holding out a longbow. "It's capable of three different shots! Normal, fire, or magi.! I'm the one who was able to add the extra abilities! Hopefully, it can help you."

She slowly handed over the new weapon with a smile on her face. Hey, it was better to hear Kiya give support, than RavenHooves act all high-and-mighty to him about things Daniel didn't care about at all. Though, this just made him worry for Kiya's safety even more. What if something bad happened to her? She seemed so nice with this new brain so far.

"Are you sure you'll be alright out there?" Sir Daniel asked, "The professor mentioned a lunatic out there, didn't he?"

I told you, Daniel, I'll be just fine," Kiya reassured, "I am more than capable of stabbing any mongrel that comes too close!" Holding up a dagger, she attempted to look threatening, which startled Sir Daniel. Noticing she may have frightened him, Kiya put the dagger away. "Sorry about that. I really appreciate your concern though. You're quite nice for an undead. Though, I guess I shouldn't talk considering the state I'm in, should I?"

It was so refreshing to hear an honest compliment from a lady. Someone that wasn't looking down upon Daniel, or making snide remarks at him. "Oh shucks. You shouldn't even call yourself one of the undead," Sir Daniel chuckled, "you look just fine and lovely, probably better than some of the living!"

"Huh? Really?" She stammered a bit, embarrassed, but very flattered. "This isn't my original body even! How can you say that when… Well, I guess this one is an improvement a little bit. Are you just saying that because I'm in the body of royalty?" Kiya questioned, pouting while putting her hands on her hips.

"Not at all," Sir Daniel replied, "careful out there. I'm heading off to Wulfrum Hall… er, professor? What's it like there?"

Kift then took the smoking pipe out of his mouth, unaware of the conversation that just took place. "Right then Daniel, there's a number of disturbances in the form of creatures of the night over there. Since you have no blood though, you should be able to handle it! I don't know what Palethorn's influence over there, but there is a piece of the Anubis Stone in Wulfrum Hall, judging by how the power is much greater than the one at Whitechapel."

Nodding his head in understanding, Sir Daniel and Winston took their leave to Wulfrum Hall. Shortly after, Princess Kiya did the same, heading for Whitechapel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was originally a "soundtrack" in the FF.net version, but it was taken out from here.
> 
> Also, it turns out the longbow wasn't in MediEvil 2, which I thought was dumb. It's one of the most useful, long-ranged items, and they took it out? I mean, I guess it was in favor of the guns, but I dunno, the Fire Longbow was super helpful in the first game and its remake.
> 
> Flaming crossbow meanwhile, is removed from this story I believe, as I saw no point in it existing when the flaming longbow is there.


	8. Wulfrum Hall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sir Daniel visits Wulfrum Hall while Princess Kiya investigates Whitchapel, and encounters the dreadful, blood-sucking (and very fashionable) Count!

Palethorn groaned. It was clear that the Hero of Gallowmere was more of a nuisance to his plans than he thought. "Try the second compressor, Dogman." Right now, they were trying to get the airship to lift-off the ground, unfortunately, there was a bit of a malfunction. "Wha' a strange adversary Fortesque is. He's persistent, I'll give him that. And he certainly has the beatin' of you two."

Mander felt his ego crushed more than it was before, while Dogman just plain ignored it, focused on getting the airship to boot back up."He also defeated your right-hand man, and the Iron Slugger, master—"

Sneering, Palethorn began mimicking Mander. "Ooooh,'he also defeated the Iron Slugger'… You dolt, I've had enough of your slimy whinin'!" He then grabbed Mander's neck, and yanked his tail clean off, making the lizard man yelp in pain, then tossed him out of the ship. Dogman hesitated on his work upon seeing his partner on the ground, tailless.

Calming down and fixing up his vest, Palethorn puffed smoke from his cigar. "Honestly, when I think back, I should have just used the Captain instead of you two! She wouldn't make excuses! No matter though. I shall have to call on my allies sooner than expected." He then turned on some speakers and a microphone.

There was a yawn on the other end, followed by someone with a thick, Transylvanian accent. "Ah, Lord Palethorn! Is the time right for my glorious arrival?"

"Oh yes, the timin' is just perfect," Palethorn replied, chuckling. "You still got the Anubis Stone piece I gave ya? Do me a favor and hide it, ya might be gettin' company soon." He then shut off the speakers.

Mander rubbed his backside, whimpering a little before sticking a thumb in his mouth, and then puffing up his cheeks to a red color to make his tail grow back. "Work is done, master!" Dogman barked, before quickly turning his attention to the hurt Mander. "Uh, you okay?"

"Perfectly, fine and dandy. No pain at all." Mander smirked, trying to hide his bruised ego. Dogman could tell however that he wasn't okay though. They may have acted like they can do just fine without the other, but in reality, Dogman would hate for his nagging friend to be hurt really badly, even if he was a pain. And Mander would be scared out of his usual wits if the hound wasn't nearby. The two had known each other for a long time and such.

"Come on y'two. Unless y'want me to leave ya sittin' here, which I'm inclined to do." With that, the both of them hopped back into the airship. None of them knew where Kardok had trotted off to now, but knowing him, he'd catch up quickly.

They didn't notice the Spiv hiding nearby with a grimace on his face, while Sir Daniel came in through a gate. "A moment too late, Daniel, Palethorn just left," he then sighed. "If only I had the courage like ya t'do somethin', mate. I always lacked it despite me appearance. Anyway, y'better be careful, looks like Palethorn got help from the Count on his side."

Sir Daniel had a rather puzzled look on him. "The Count?"

His usual smirk came back. "Count Vlad Dracula, mate… or, so he claims himself t'be. Honestly, I doubt it's the real deal." The Spiv explained with a shrug. "Ever since Palethorn rose t'power, he relocated from Transylvania t'over here. They made an agreement too, 'bout destroying ya." Daniel flinched from that sentence. "Don't worry, just kick 'em into a place with sunlight while they aren't payin' attention. Or, if y'wake 'em by accident, just give 'em something that's aflame. They burn like a dried up leaf fallin' into a fire!" The Spiv chuckled darkly, frightening Dan further if anything.

"Looks like there's no way into the mansion, the door is locked and needs a key!" Winston then glanced around the area, finding a small hole in the building's underside. "Over there, I see an alternate entrance! It's a bit too small for you though." He then looked around again, spotting the green, disembodied hands running around Sir Daniel.

It didn't take long for Daniel to figure out what he should do. Popping off his head, and then screwing it on top of the hand, he gained complete control over it. "Just what I was thinking, Dan! Just remember to be cautious, you can't fight as a hand, so maybe try sneaking around." Winston then recalled what had happened earlier in Greenwich, mainly the fact Daniel could walk around without his head. "You should be able to move around both that hand and your body. That could be useful for getting around here!"

Entering the small indent, Dan crawled around, seeing a key lying on a table. A Renfield-type character of the sort, however, was guarding the desk, letting at a crazed laugh at the sight of Daniel.

Hiding underneath the table, the deformed-looking lunatic gave up, not wanting to hunch over and hurt himself over a living hand. When the Renfield had his back turned away, Sir Daniel crawled back out, grabbed the key, and ran back where he came from. It seemed there was no way for Daniel to jump back out where he came in, due to the height not being something a little hand could reach by hopping around. There was a miniature elevator though, operated by a switch on the ground.

Going up the next floor, Daniel scurried across the floor, avoiding anymore Renfields and some rather small, vampiric girls. Out of an open window, Sir Daniel went back to his body, who picked up the head from the green hand. Using the key on the front door, now, his venture into Wulfrum could really start.

And what better way to start off by ridding of the zombified knights, similar to what he found in the museum, and axing off the wandering Renfield characters? There was also the vampiric girls, but between Daniel feeling a little bad for them, and them being only a clinging nuisance, he couldn't kill them, just knock them down unconscious for a moment.

Then, he found some coffins. Sealed up perfectly, and a boarded up window. The most logical conclusion Daniel could come to was following the Spiv's advice by pushing the two coffin close to the window, and then breaking down the wooden boards for sunlight to peek in.

Within an instant, they lit up, breaking open and a pair of vampires ran around, trying to chase Sir Daniel before they exploded into helpless ash. A few more puzzles like this, just burning vampires, one woke up by accident, in which Daniel gladly took out his longbow and shot a flaming arrow at it. Enough to make it turn crisp in seconds. A Life Bottle was hidden away too, which was a bonus, been a while since he found one of those.

It didn't take much time for Sir Daniel to find the Souls Chalice, then get all the evil souls he needed to fill it with. The vampire girls could be left alone, maybe the curse on them or something would break if he found the one who caused them to become that way. And that would be much sooner than he thought, once all the vampires became nothing but ash.

* * *

"Right, we've come a long way! I got a mighty feeling the Count himself is behind this door—" Winston suddenly stopped, seeing the Spiv standing in the corner again. "Alright, how did he get here before us!?"

A chuckle came from the Spiv. "Whaddya mean how? I climbed up the building and came in through a window. Besides, yer gonna need supplies for what's ahead. Don't just fight with weapons alone though, Dan. Y'gotta use wit, otherwise, the Count will do wha' he was told, and destroy ya. Why don't ya _reflect_  on it."

Judging by the little hints, Sir Daniel had a feeling it was also a bad pun. That was something that the Spiv and the professor had in common. Winston hated it, judging by his groan. Daniel bought anything he needed and then headed to the door.

The room was a dark shade of red. A large coffin stood at the end of it and opened slowly. Bursting out, was a tall man wearing a demonic-looking armor, cape spread out into a pair of wings. Quite the dramatic sight that took Sir Daniel Fortesque and Winston by surprised.

It was shortly ruined by a yawn and stretch, and the Count scratching himself before regaining his usual composure. "Vell now, vhat manner of a creature are you, to disturb the Count's sleep, hm? Vhy, before me, I see nothing more than a reanimated bag of armor and bone, along vith the phantom of a puny child!" They both glared at him. "Haha! You have done vell, vhat did Palethorn call you? Fortesque? Yes, an impressive job to get this far. But I, Count Vlad Dracula, have valked this vorld for hundreds, if not a thousand years."

"Uh, I have never heard of you until now." Sir Daniel lowered his weapons, puzzled at the ego-maniac.

"Vhat? I can't understand a word you are saying," the Count replied. "Anyvay, I have defeat hundreds upon hundreds stronger than you, and for a thousand more I—"

"Ugh, enough with the gloating that isn't even true!" Winston piped in, annoyed. "Get on with it already, why must vampires be so full of themselves!?"

The Count clenched his fists in disapproval at the little ghost. "You… Interrupt, me? Why, for your insolence, child, you and your ugly little friend shall suffer beyond all your imagination can handle!" He then cackled maniacally. "Oooh, but first, I need to make sure I look good!" He walked up to a mirror and began posing in front of it. Normally, a vampire would have no reflection, but it seemed the armor that the Count was wearing was visible at least. Polishing off a spot and fixing the wings, he let out a satisfied chuckle.

"Aha! There. Now, I am ready."

Didn't take long for someone like Sir Daniel to figure out what he needed to do. Flipping part of the mirror, Daniel dodged the magic attack shot at him, reflecting it straight back at Dracula. He hissed, and unleashed flaming bats at Daniel.

Using the fire arrows from the longbow was completely useless though due to the armor. It was rather an oddly decorated suit too. A rather golden-orange coloring mixed with red, the torso-area was made to look like a face with glowing eyes and sharp teeth. Plus a horned-helmet to protect his face… It was… Rather tacky, to Sir Daniel. Someone known for being the "Prince of the Dark" wearing something rather flashy, caring about how he looked, and using such colorful attacks was off-putting.

Really, it didn't take long at all either due to the immense power of the magic that the Count shot at Sir Daniel, which was constantly reflected by the mirrors. "Augh!" He shrieked, breaking all the windows in the room, as his armor came apart, popping off and then melting to the ground from the heat of the blasts.

A pale, lavender-skinned man with orange hair wearing a red tank-top, was underneath the grotesque armor, smirking with his fangs. "You have done vell so far my bony friend, but all resistance is futile. You vill not defeat the Count!" Cackling, he landed. "All the magic came mostly from that armor of mine. Now, I shall have to rely on pure agility and my vondrous strength!"

Speeding over to one of the mirrors right as Daniel touched it, he flipped it over, making it absorb some of the sunlight. Sir Daniel was half-way done already, due to how much damage the magic did. Now, he had to hope that burning the Count was just as strong.

Granted, since he was exposed, Sir Daniel could light him with flaming arrows, but that didn't drain as much compared to the reflected magic, and the Count managed to put out the fire that clung onto his wings rather swiftly. Fixing the mirrors so they all made the sunlight point up to a rather large chandelier, it all beamed down onto the Count.

His body was on fire those few seconds before flipping the mirrors back to their original position at the speed of a single snap. The Count launched some dark magic that exploded within contact of the floor, before running back up to Daniel and trying to swipe him with grown-out nails.

Daniel had to hurry up and finish him off then. Smacking the mirrors back upwards, but also making sure the Count didn't try to push them back down, he dashed over to the last one, only for the Count to draw close before he could touch it.

If there was a moment someone was hoisted by their own petard, this would be a rather big one that Sir Daniel will remember. It was completely unintentional, but the Count only ended up making the last mirror stand up the right way, making the room be filled with light from the chandelier.

"No, not the light!" The Count exclaimed, dropping to the floor in pain. "It burns my skin, and my soul!" He shouted, hands now over his head, trying to be dramatic. "Make it stop! Spare me, Hero of Gallowmere, mercy, take the Anubis Stone," the Count pleaded, "I von't do anything bad again, please!" He was practically whining now, much to the confusion and pity of Sir Daniel.

Before Sir Daniel could reach out to grab the burning vampire and try to find a way to douse him, he exploded, bursting into several vampire bats that flew away from the light. The flames were gone, but Daniel could still hear the Count being a sobbing mess somewhere in the mansion. "How could I lose? Noooo… Vhy this!?"

Winston just let out a sigh of annoyance. "Sheesh! What a drama queen, talk about putting yourself so high on a pedestal that when one person does something, it's suddenly the end of the world for them, huh?… Oh, look Daniel!" He chirped, pointing straight ahead. "The Anubis Stone piece!"

Indeed, sitting there in the Count's large sarcophagus, was the second of the four pieces belonging to the Anubis Stone. Sir Daniel gladly ran over to pick it up, excited to have it in his hands again.

Now he could return to the lab, and hopefully, Kiya also had good news to report! What could go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Count is a funny character. I ended up making him into a flamboyant vampire who claims to be Drac, when of course, he is not.
> 
> The red tank-top though, so silly…


	9. Whitechapel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Princess Kiya has not returned from her trip to Whitechapel, so Sir Daniel must go out and look for her. Can he reach her before the Ripper does?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't realize it until a YouTube comment pointed it out, but the Ripper's murders are two years too early in this game, so I'm going to go back to previous chapters to fix that.
> 
> I quite like Madame Jo-jo. Sadly, she doesn't do much in this remake.

Professor Kift looked… extremely worried. He was chewing on his smoking pipe and fidgeting around, he nearly dropped it when Sir Daniel and Winston came back with the newly acquired Anubis Stone piece. "Ah, oh, hello Daniel. I see you must have disposed of the threat in Wulfrum Hall. That's excellent!" It was pretty easy for Daniel to tell something was up.

"What's the matter?" He mumbled.

"Uh, I, unfortunately, lost all contact with Kiya somehow. I had a signal with her the whole time she went to Whitechapel, and she told me there were a lot of zombies running around, which she took care of just fine, and police were too busy looking around for a killer. After that, she said something about someone following her, then it cut off and she hasn't come back or anything!"

Sir Daniel felt his single eye widen, trembling. "I know, I know! This is my fault for letting her go alone. If something happens, I don't think I'll be able to forgive myself. I should probably just go hurry and fetch her myself if I can." Kift got out of his chair, about to run off, until both Daniel and Winston stopped him.

"What do you think you're doing professor? If Kiya didn't come back, then chances are, you won't either! Just let Daniel and I take care of it, right Dan?" Winston smiled. Between right now and after he defeated Zarok years ago, Sir Daniel could feel that a majority of his courage was building up more and more. He wasn't going to turn that down, not at this point when he's gotten so far.

He trembled, letting out a sigh of depression. "Well, alright. I know you won't let me down, Daniel, I just feel so useless, making you run around all the time for me." He then sat back down, tapping his metal fingers against the table anxiously. It was probably a bad time, but Sir Daniel hoped that giving the Souls Chalice to Kift would help take his mind off of things. That and make the professor feel better about himself.

* * *

"Alright, Dan, I'm sure you remember this too well. A Magic Shield made of gold! If it ever falls apart, you can get the Spiv to fix it right back up and you can go along like nothing had happened." Professor Kift then handed Sir Daniel a large, golden shield, one of many things Dan remembered fondly.

Now, all he needed was a Magic Sword longsword. Then it would be just like the good old times again. He missed Karl and Dirk actually, hearing them bicker over what equipment was better had always been entertaining to Daniel.

"You're not as useless as you make yourself out to be, professor," Sir Daniel said to him, "in fact, you're very helpful. You do not need to put yourself down all the time."

The professor sighed, "I know you say that, but I feel as if everything goes horribly wrong because of me." It wasn't really enjoyable to hear Kift say that about himself. Sir Daniel had seen himself as a screw-up in the past but managed to redeem himself by defeating Zarok. It was just crushing to see this old man think so little about himself, despite how much he was aiding Daniel.

"Professor, could you tell me about the killer you mentioned earlier?" Daniel asked, just so he could avoid this potential murderer.

"There's a man running around, targeting females in Whitechapel," Professor Kift explained. "That's why I was hesitant on Kiya going, I know she can handle herself, but if he gets his hands on her, I don't want to think about what sort of gruesome things may happen!"

Sir Daniel was now less worried about himself, but entering panic mode on what could happen to Kiya. He had to cut it short, and start moving right away!

"Please, you must hurry and find Kiya, but also, watch out for yourself!" Professor Kift warned. "I don't want to lose her, and you as well, Daniel!" That last part, while worrisome, did also touch Sir Daniel a little. The professor clearly did care about both him and Kiya, and someone his age or size shouldn't be running around with a killer on the loose.

Provided if this murderer was really active at all right now, but Sir Daniel wasn't going to take the chance on him being there or not. No more time to dawdle around or talk, he had to find Kiya!

* * *

The sky was dark, like a storm was about to come. Coffins popped out of the cemetery earth, making zombies wander aimlessly. Easy to kill, and easily collected evil souls beyond over fifty percent already. "Last time the professor heard from Kiya, is that she went into a club of some sort and that the whole area is under curfew! We need to tread carefully, or there might be more trouble!" Winston explained.

Whitechapel itself felt so gloomy. Clearly, the murder events going on were affecting the atmosphere, or it was more of Zarok's spell-book. "I don't think we'll be able to get into the club by any normal means, Daniel! We're going to have to look like… Well, a person, so none of the residents flip! And a membership card, so you aren't just some stranger. But where are we going to get those?" Once again, Winston was making a good point about the situation at hand. Even though Sir Daniel needed to hurry, it would be impossible to ask for help and just run around, people will confuse him for a monster.

And he couldn't just kill them like they were any other evil soul!… Right?

No. That would be awful! He was a hero. What sort of demon would kill innocents?!

Granted, Sir Daniel wasn't above everything that would be considered bad. He just climbed up a ladder to break into someone's house. Just so he could grab the membership card that was inside. Daniel ran out instantly when he was done, just to hide from the police in another building.

The Spiv stood between some tables, grinning. "Nice t'see ya again so soon, Daniel. What do y'need?"

"Monty, do you know where Princess Kiya is?" Daniel questioned in a panic.

"Hey now, thought I told ya I don't go by tha' no more," the Spiv said, shaking his head. "Kiya, that's the mummified princess, right? I think I saw her go into tha' club. Good luck getting anywhere though while lookin' like tha'. As for me, I don't have a membership card, and I already get chased by the cops fer bein' so shady, thinkin' I'm the notorious killer. Honestly, way to judge by me appearance."

A club? That was a good start. But Daniel would have to find a way to get in without scaring everyone out of their wits. He had to find a disguise, as well as a membership card to get in there. All of that while avoiding the police that were roaming Whitechapel. "Don't let the professor feel guilty about anything tha' happens. He did tha' last time." The Spiv murmured aloud. "Also, y'should have a good read every once in a while, some books may give ya a hint on where t'go."

Most of the houses around had their doors locked, while others were run down and abandoned. Daniel figured he might as well take his chances and investigate the inside of one of the houses. Taking a peek inside, he made sure there were no officers present, then walked right in, noticing a book sitting on the table. 

 

> _**APRIL 7th, 1890**_
> 
> _"The house next-door to mine belonged to Isibod Brunel it turns out, a noted industrialist and socialist, he was one of the richest men of his age, despite his fake beard. He made his fortune producing mechanical toys. After a number of unexplained accidents, he was thrown to his death whilst demonstrating the safety of his infamous steam powered rocking pony… Not exactly the smartest way to go. Many monuments exist throughout the city, and he is buried in the cemetery now. Someone moved the gold and silver tablets from his tomb so his rest wouldn't be disturbed, how odd."_

Daniel wasn't exactly sure why he should go to the cemetery again, but the hint was pretty much telling him to search there for something. Not before going around the town to find the two tablets that seemed to have gone missing though. Inside the library was one, silver-plated griffon tablet. In another building, was just clothes.

Well, he had to dodge the peelers somehow, Daniel would come back to put those on when he thought he had everything needed. After investigating through the alleyways one last time, killing the zombies there, Sir Daniel found the Souls Chalice already, along with a brand new Life Bottle.

Heading to the courtyard, Sir Daniel saw a torn-up journal page laying on the statue of Isibod. 

 

> _**MARCH 18th, 1890**_
> 
> _"In case of emergency of something from Isibod's tomb, make the panels a ruby's red, sapphire's blue, and emerald's green, then shine them on the statue. There, the Unicorn Tablet is."_

That didn't take long for Sir Daniel either because all of the buttons started off red. He turned them to face the statue of a bearded man, then stepped on a button to change the colors on two of them. A rather simple puzzle, really. So far, besides the peelers, everything felt pretty easy. No complaints there since Daniel had to hurry if he wanted to find Kiya, he could only hope she was still in one piece.

He had the gold-plated unicorn tablet, now Daniel could hurry back to where he started in the cemetery. Putting the two tablets inside the slot of a small building made of stone, it opened its doors. Down the small set of stairs, a coffin opened up very slowly. A zombified old man, once known as Isibod came out, groaning at Daniel.

"Brains!" He shouted, raising his cane stick and making several zombies rise up from the ground. Although he was cluttered within the other corpses, Sir Daniel had to focus on taking down Isibod. If he tried to dispose of the others, they'd just come back up from the regal zombie's magic.

Using magic arrows from the longbow, it didn't take long for Isibod's corpse to fall over… Along with his fake beard coming off. "Ew! Are we seriously going to…? W-well, I guess if you don't wear it… The peelers will catch onto you with your jawless face and all." Winston gagged a little. Thankfully, no worms or maggots were ridden in the beard.

Now Sir Daniel could rush back to the one building in Whitechapel, parting some curtains and then going inside… He turned back around at Winston, annoyed. "Huh? O-oh," The ghost stammered, "sorry, I'll give you, uh, privacy while you change." Winston didn't see the point really since Dan was just a skeleton, but he was going to respect Fortesque's wishes.

When he came back out, Daniel was wearing a purple suit, the fake white beard, membership card in hand, and top hat on his skull. His sword and shield were put away so it wouldn't be easy to catch on that he wasn't exactly a living gentleman.

It was actually pretty convincing, which made Winston laugh uncontrollably. "I can't take it Fortesque! That beard, it's just too much… Wait, I know!" He then dug through a box, taking out an eyepatch, and slapping it on Sir Daniel's left eye. "There, now it's perfect! You look like a legendary, soldier that survived some ordeals. Too bad the beard isn't shorter, or a different color."

Although Daniel had no idea what the point of Winston doing that really was for, he had to admit, the eyepatch was an improvement. Not that it mattered all too much. Sir Daniel carefully walked over to the club across the street, trying to look normal. The man in a red suit saw Daniel, who held up his membership card. "Ah, good evening sir. Please, feel free to come in. Madam Jo-jo is practicing on her piano." Relieved that the disguise worked, despite Isibod dying a year earlier, he went inside.

The club was very nice-looking, sounds of a piano were playing, Daniel went into the room where the music was coming from, unsure if he should really disturb the lady there. However, she seemed to be fully aware of his presence. "Why, hello stranger." She turned around, ceasing her piano playing to face him. Her hair was curly and orange, put in a bun with a tiara. She wore heavy amounts of make-up on her face, along with a rather elegant, green dress that just barely covered her large bust. "Anything I can help you with?"

"Why, hello stranger." She turned around, ceasing her piano playing to face him. Her hair was curly and orange, put in a bun with a tiara. She wore heavy amounts of make-up on her face, along with a rather elegant, green dress that just barely covered her large bust. "Anything I can help you with?"

"Pardon me, madam, have you seen a young lady with blue skin?" Sir Daniel tried to word it in a way that would not throw this woman into a panic over the living dead. "Her name is Kiya, has she stopped in here?"

"The Egyptian one with that dead-looking blue-skin? Yes, she's been here." Jo-jo answered, not bothered in the slightest by the disguised skeleton. "Nice girl she is, feels like I knew that heart of hers before. She acted like she knew me and made her way in, asking me about what was going on. I told her about the Ripper. That scoundrel has been working through all my girls! I tried to stop her, but she was so headstrong, that girl. I believe she's made her way over to the clock tower, can't miss it."

Clock tower? Another lead was nice, but he would have preferred if Kiya had been here like the Spiv had said, at least then she would be safe from whatever was outside. "How bad is this, uh, Ripper you called him?" Daniel asked, tugging at the collar of his shirt.

"Those bloody useless peelers can't even catch him!" Jo-jo complained, clenching her fist in anger. "My friend and all the young women who work here are dead because of him. My old friend and I said that if it were up to us, we would blow a hole in his chest to see if he even has a heart, that monster!" She then sighed, clearly frustrated at what was going on. "I'm sorry for venting so suddenly. A friend of mine, she rather noble woman that was good with everything on her own, able to fend off whoever approached her. The Ripper confused her for one of the girls working here under me since we were close friends, and killed her. Haven't gotten over it yet, I'm afraid."

"My sincerest sympathies, madam. I certainly hope this fiend gets caught soon." Sir Daniel said, taking note of how harmful this killer must have been. "If it uh, makes you feel any better, you look… quite ravishing, I must say."

"Oho! How kind of you. However, I know all too well of the black magic flying around and whatnot. You're not a human, are you? Just another corpse running around." Madam Jo-jo replied with a chuckle. "I'll give you points though, you do act much like a gentleman and do make quite the effort to fit in. I would even go as far as to say you make a better impression than some of the living I've seen. I don't give out services to the deceased, unfortunately. That wouldn't work out."

It wasn't what Daniel intended on, as he was just being polite. He should really stop dawdling and head to his next destination. "The clock tower is north of the courtyard," Madam Jo-jo explained, "the gate is usually closed off, but considering the hefty storm coming, it shouldn't take much for those harsh winds to blow the doors open. Oh, and before you leave, fortify yourself with this, dear gentleman."

She then removed a large vial from her… chest region, and handed it over to Sir Daniel, who reluctantly took the Life Bottle from her.

He didn't waste any more time. It was just as Madam Jo-jo said, the weather had grown worse, leading to the gate to the clock tower flinging wide open. Lightning began to strike, creating two shadows for Sir Daniel and Winston to see.

"Princess!" Sir Daniel called out. But she couldn't hear him.

A dagger was knocked straight out of her hand, Kiya was shoved near a wall. "You!" She grunted, holding her arm. Eyes widening in fear as the figure drew closer. It was as if she was seeing her life flash before her eyes. "I remember now," she muttered, "you're the one who—"

Before she could say anything more, claw pierced into her chest, lifting Kiya off the ground and making her scream with pain. Kiya could feel her life force being drained away, the other clawed hand—

Sir Daniel stood there in shock, while Winston was outright traumatized, covering his eyes. The both of them were completely speechless, not even a scream could escape them.

Jack, the Ripper; the Whitechapel killer, turned to the duo and smirked.


	10. The Sewers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Kiya is murdered by the Ripper, Daniel learns that there just may be a way to save her.

Jack the Ripper… His skin was a disgusting pale, blue-green color. A vest that was torn quite a bit, showing off his unnatural muscles that were bulging. He had a monstrous face, an outstretched maw that wore fangs. His nails had become silver, dagger-like claws, coated in red at the tips.

"You thought that if I was still a human, you could surely catch me again?" He cackled, throwing Kiya's body at Daniel. "Foolish wench, the horrible magic spread around here gives power to souls like me. I have been blessed, to cleanse this world of filth!" He then leapt far up, onto a part of the clock tower, looking down at Sir Daniel. "You, were far too late. Time had gone so fast, and you couldn't catch up with it, or me; Jack the Ripper!" Turning away, he continued chuckling.

Sir Daniel took out his pistol while grabbing onto the fallen Kiya, seeming unstable. "Do my words sting you, like the scene I have caused? Let them! Let my harsh truth stain you like the blood of victims on my hands. You cannot turn back through the time you wasted, and hope to fix what I have destroyed!" With one last laugh, he vanished out of sight as Daniel fired the gun.

Nothing but horrible, evil cackling echoed throughout the stormy weather. Sir Daniel got up while holding Kiya's body, both of them being rained on.

"Hah," Kiya sighed, weakly, "I'm a fool. Thinking I could go back and have my revenge… I was wondering the real reason I was so eager to come here was, the moment Kift mentioned a murderer, I felt something so familiar." She then closed her eyes. "He had killed me before I was part of this body. My mind was preserved, and now… I'm going to leave for good."

With that last word, a tear formed in her eye, mixing with the rain. Her body started to fade into a blue, dusty mist. Blown out of Sir Daniel's hands, and through the stormy winds, Kiya was no more.

Winston began bawling, hanging onto Sir Daniel as he tried to reach for the fading mist. "Kiya! Come back, Kiya! We still have a chance to get him, please, don't leave us!" Attempting to grab the specks of blue mist, it slipped out of the ghost's hands. Before long, he stopped his desperate attempts and hung his head over Daniel's shoulder. "It's no use," he murmured, "her soul is so weak, that it faded from existence."

Putting a hand on the ghostly child, Daniel began comforting him. He was just upset as Winston was about Kiya's murder, but Daniel knew he had to be strong. The poor boy didn't deserve to witness such a crime. He may be technically deceased like Daniel was, but Winston was still a child that was easily scared.

There was no point in lingering around here any longer. They had to return to Kift with the bad news.

* * *

"She's dead…" Sir Daniel mumbled, frowning and his head lowered.

"She's… gone? No traces? Her brain, soul, body, everything!? Oh no," Professor Kift trembled, "No! I just knew it! It's all my fault! I can't forgive myself for this, not ever!" His head slumped onto the desk, sighing and weeping. "Oh, Winston, this happened to you too! I couldn't save you, and now Kiya as well!" Sir Daniel raised his head a little, now curious.

Come to think of it… he never did learn about how Winston died. He knew that the boy must have passed on at an early stage for him to look so young as a ghost, but he didn't know the exact details.

"Professor, please don't bring that up—" Winston couldn't finish his sentence, due to the amount of guilt that was eating Kift away, forcing him to lament over the past.

"I wasn't watching over the boy when Palethorn and I were looking for something in a mine," Professor Kift confessed, "the whole area, it just collapsed on the boy so suddenly! He wanted to be just like me, and he was just an orphan! I adopted him, and took him under my wing before we…"

He was sobbing uncontrollably. Sir Daniel couldn't believe what he was hearing right now, and it was dreadfully tragic.

"And then there was the time where I found Zarok's spell-book with Palethorn almost a year ago…"

* * *

Everything flashed back to when Kift still had normal hands, he was trying to escape along with a more human Palethorn, only for him to be shoved and a loud crunching sound to be heard.

_ "Palethorn had backstabbed the Octomator Captain while we were visiting her. She had been holding onto Zarok's spell-book, which was placed near a project of ours, which some people had confused for an empty crypt. He stole the book, and somehow managed to spread his influence on other Octomators! In order to escape, he shoved me on a closing door, while the captain was chasing us." _

Behind the caught Kift, was a humanoid alien of the sort wearing a mask, and the Spiv, who was wearing a sweater rather than his usual coat. They both stopped in place, and he took out a knife from his pocket.  

_ "The Spiv— No, Montague, he cut me free, at the cost of my arms. And the captain shooed us both out of the area which was falling apart due to them both prying the door open. It wasn't a very stable ruin, and as a result of her trying to hurry us out of there…" _

A large boulder came crashing down, separating her from the Spiv and Kift, who looked on in horror. 

_ "She had surely been crushed, much like Winston! Monty became so overcome with grief, that he turned to the lone, petty crook he is now! He told me not to blame myself for it, but I'm just a magnet for people getting hurt or dying!"  _

* * *

The memories finally ended back on Kift's tear-stained face, him putting away his glasses and unable to look at either Daniel or Winston.

"But professor, None of these are your fault, nor are they Daniel's!" Winston objected, "It's all Palethorn's fault for mining around and causing the caves to fall apart! It's his fault for betraying the captain! And it's his fault that such a horrible murderer gained so much power to kill Kiya!" Winston huffed, trying his hardest, no matter how badly he was hurt, to cheer up the rather depressing conversation.

He could only keep sobbing. "If only I had finished figuring out how to fix that time machine the captain wanted us to repair, and she was still with us. I'm sure all of this could have been prevented then." Laying his head on the table, Professor Kift couldn't even bring himself to look at anyone, wanting to hide from everyone.

"Time machine?" Sir Daniel questioned, having never heard of such a thing before.

"She used it to travel between the future and the past. The Octomators aren't from our era.  There was only one thing missing from the time machine, which is why we never—" 

Sir Daniel completely tuned out what Kift was saying right there, hearing the Ripper's words start ringing in his skull instead.

_ "You cannot turn back through the time you wasted, and hope to fix what I have destroyed…" _

Turn back time?

And there was someone who had a machine that could go back and forth, possibly changing things…

"Professor," Sir Daniel exclaimed, "you need to tell me! Where can I find it? How can we turn back time?" He questioned, trying to get the older man to face him "We can save Kiya then maybe, along with anyone else!"

Kift nearly had a heart attack at the question. "What?! Daniel, you can't possibly," Kift stammered, "the small ruins the captain lived in are closed off!" He then stopped, thinking it over. "There… might be one way in. Her little hideaway was connected to the sewer since her kind are drawn to water. In fact, I think she said that when trying to repair it with me, she had lost an important piece of the time machine in a drain, maybe?"

It was worth a shot. Sir Daniel Fortesque could feel courage boil up through his bones.

But first, he had to be prepared. Maybe hand over the Souls Chalice to the Professor, although, he didn't seem motivated to work right now. Not that Daniel could blame him, really. "I don't have much to give you this time Fortesque, I'm sorry," Professor Kift said, making quick work. "Here though, I don't want you to get hurt. I can't risk losing you next!" Professor Kift then held a Life Bottle that he had just finished filling up. It was definitely good enough for Sir Daniel. "It's no wonder no one has never caught the Ripper. That horrible, monstrous murderer is a monster! Redundant, I'm sure, and I bet it's just Palethorn's magic at work, but still."

The professor continued to mumble to himself. "This is all my fault! I should have gone with her… No, I'm just a useless, brittle fool. But even then, it would have been better if it was me, wouldn't it?" Kift said with a sigh. "I've always been this awful. That's why I lost my hands, I'm useless. Winston, Kiya, the Octomator Captain, they're all dead because of me!"

Daniel wasn't sure if saying anything would help. He and Winston had tried to help the professor's self-esteem before, but it seemed like he would be stuck in this funk for a while. Chances were he'd have to go back in time not only to save Kiya, but to help Kift stop beating himself up.

Come to think of it, actually… There was a machine of some sort flying around. It was spectating Daniel when he was fighting the Iron Slugger. Palethorn made a comment on someone being "still alive out there". Surely, there still had to be hope. Daniel could bring back Kiya, prove the Octomator Captain was still alive, and cheer the professor up.

All of that, along with disposing of Jack the Ripper.

* * *

It was rather horrifying when Sir Daniel entered. He could see Octomators, leeching off multiple… Rather ugly, humanoid sewer-people and a cow of some sort. Daniel didn't hesitate to rid of the Octomators, but stopped upon looking at the weird sewer-people.

Rather than being afraid of Daniel, they began bowing down to him. "Ah, the one-eyed god? He's here to save us from bad intruders!"

… One-eyed god?

Before Sir Daniel could ask, they opened up the door behind them. "Please, help us from the intruders! They kidnap all Mullock girls. King Mullock reward you for helping!" They then began pushing Fortesque through the door, excited. Winston was just confused, but followed closely behind.

There was an entire, underground village with a statue of Sir Daniel Fortesque. The one that used to be in Gallowmere! He was tempted to ask how it got buried under here, but the villagers were too busy chatting to each other and pulling out their leader.

He had a rather shabby outfit, made to imitate Sir Daniel's armor, along with a skeleton-mask made of stone. Like the villagers, he bowed down. "Is it true, the great one-eye is here to save us? The Mullocks?"

Sir Daniel just stared at them all in disbelief, "Uh oh."

"Great one, see, we once happy tribe! Singing and dancing, until horrible, nasty beasts came, lured away all our women. Only sad songs now, lost taste for battle, and will to live. Great one-eyed god, can you rescue the women for us? We reward you, with power!" They then all went back to bowing, constantly.

Winston raised a brow. "How long have they been down here? They barely look human." The ghost mumbled to himself. "But, there's a reward involved! I know someone like you would do it even if nothing in return was involved, but I dunno about me." He then chuckled nervously, while Sir Daniel just moved on.

Killing off more Octomators and freeing the Mullocks, Daniel headed down the large, steel dome and into an area filled with water. More Octomators came crawling out of the vents upon seeing Daniel and tried to attack him. Once they were out of the way, Daniel proceeded to place his head on top of a green hand. Wonderful. The last thing Dan needed in the midst of all of this, was a puzzle.

He sent the hand across one pipe, and then connected it to another by pulling a switch. Quite the tedious process, but interesting. Thankfully the Dan-Hand reached the other side thanks to one last pipe that needed to be flipped around. There was a button at the end, which the Dan-Hand pressed, making the pipes all connect properly and sink into the water.

"Is that…?" They stopped, going through another metal tunnel, Winston squinted, before groaning. "Now this is just getting ridiculous. How is the Spiv here already!? Wait, what's that?" He then got a better look, slowly floating near the Spiv.

The Spiv was staring at a small looking coin, had reddish-orange coloring. He let out a sigh, before Sir Daniel cleared his throat, grabbing his attention. "Ack! Bloody— Wha' in the world are ya doin' here!?"

"What are we doing here? Honestly, I was going to ask you that! You mean for once, you didn't anticipate us showing up?" Winston questioned, crossing his arms.

"Not exactly, 'specially since y'got me so off me guard." He clutched the object, swallowing his gut down hard. Trying to put his usual, smug expression back on, neither Daniel nor Winston were convinced. "Ya didn't see anythin', right?"

Daniel just nodded. "I saw. What is that you have?"

Sneering at them both, he turned away, trying to slink away. "It ain't for sale, now go."

"We're not asking you to sell it. More like, we want to know if that's a piece of the time machine. The one Kift and the Captain worked on, along with you, probably." Winston followed up, making the Spiv stop in his tracks.

The Spiv looked back at the two, frowning deeply and tossing it at them. "Fine. There's no point in someone likeme holdin' it. D'ya wanna buy somethin'? If not, then leave!" His usual collective demeanor vanished for once, clearly showing signs of stress and outright annoyance.

After checking in on a few things, Sir Daniel noticed that the Spiv was not up for giving any advice or conversation for once. The most he could do was move on. Several Octomators and notably larger variations that remained invisible by hiding in the sewer walls, were flailing around several Mullock women. Being the heroic knight he was, Sir Daniel took little hesitation in freeing them, and then went on to find the Souls Chalice tucked away in a cavern area filled with more tentacle creatures.

Once five tentacles were disposed of, and the women were freed, they all returned to the rather small village, where the Mullock King looked overjoyed. "Oh, great one, You have saved us! By the powers that be, I declare we are a whole tribe, once more! Will you stay, and defend us from a future attack?"

"Uh," Sir Daniel didn't exactly want to say no, but he was on a mission. Thankfully, Winston was able to do the wording for him.

"The one-eyed god must protect everybody! That's his mission, so, unfortunately, he cannot stay. But, we need to know how to get to the ruins containing a time machine." They all looked at the ghost, confused. "Okay, um, how about telling us where the horrible beasts came from?"

Fortunately, the Mullock King could answer that. "We shall guide you by boat! They came by water, down from this river." The Mullock King explained, showing the nearby stream. "I shall also give you a reward, to use lightning and healing spells! This magic we have known since ancient times." With that, different colored lightning bolts came crashing down near Sir Daniel, startling him. Soon after, a small little raft floated over.

One set of bolts felt more calming, but Sir Daniel also could feel it tied to his own essence, like using it would use his own stamina. He could only assume this was the one with healing properties, even though it seemed like it would harm him more than anything.

"Go now, one-eyed god, we believe that you shall rid of the beast terrorizing our kind! You are a true hero!" The Mullock King cheered along with the others. Sir Daniel and Winston waved goodbye to them, as Daniel began rowing the raft to his next destination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo I hated writing the Sewers level. This chapter is boring, ugh. The only good part about it was making Professor Kift more depressed about his mistakes, while he was just kind of a weenie in the original game.
> 
> If I recall, I ended up writing it so that Daniel didn't have to go there twice like in the original, which was really stupid since the Mullocks were so friendly. It was saved for an alternate path, which I still dunno if I'll post on AO3 or not.


	11. The Time Machine Keep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sir Daniel finds the time machine, and meets an otherworldly opponent!… Or, is she an ally?

Sir Daniel hopped off of the raft and entered the ruin through an opening where a rusted grate was pulled off. No doubt from someone who was there before him.

It all reminded him of where Sir Daniel started this new quest, the museum. Except less polished of course. It was very clear that the area was in use at some point prior to falling apart with Palethorn's betrayal. The place was nearly empty, as if the Octomators migrated to the sewers a long while ago because of the lack of water in this area.

Despite how dusty it was, the area was decently organized and most certainly had an amount of care put into it. There was a small planetarium room far in the back, which was absolutely fascinating. Someone like Sir Daniel didn't look at the stars much except back when he was alive, so he was amazed to see how much was beyond the world. A little page stood near the globe, catching his attention.

 

 

> _**CAPTAIN'S LOG** _
> 
> _**EARTH DATE 1889**_
> 
> _"Explosives hide now for, earthling human types visiting. I come have learn to of life industrial. Slow progress english learning. Palethorn wants to me do task him for. Hopes in closer getting of him to, must I accept!"_

 

The return of the terrible grammar. How lovely. Still, the mention of explosions piqued Daniel's curiosity. He might need them, it was a bit odd for an alien to be holding onto them, and he could see some red sticks of some kind on top of the globe. Great, another puzzle for the Dan-Hand to solve.

Standing on a button to the floor, and using the Dan-Hand to reach an activated, floating elevator, he reached the sticks of dynamite on top of the globe. Easy to figure out, but there wasn't a fuse or anything to light it with. "Fire-proof? What's kind of fangled, other-planet explosives don't use a light to blow things up?" Winston huffed.

When Sir Daniel moved onto a room right across, there were several colored buttons, set-up to play music once the one at the front was stepped on first. It didn't take rocket science or anything to figure out Daniel had to remember the tune being played, and push the correct buttons in order.

A shaft opened up when he was finished. Inside was a remote, something Daniel was completely unfamiliar with. Thankfully, there was a note next to it that he could read, grammar aside.

 

 

> _**INSTRUCTIONS** _
> 
> _1\. Explosive set_
> 
> _2\. Batteries check_
> 
> _3\. Button red press remove to boulders or walls_

Simple enough. The only issue was there being a lack of batteries inside the remote. This was all so new to Daniel, and it might have been new for Winston as well. The only place left to check was like a museum. Suits of armor were inside, which came to life and took Sir Daniel by surprise, but he easily disposed of them.

Coffins opened up shortly after, a mummy popping out along with a vampire. Both of them were quickly torched with flaming arrows. There was also a small crack in the ceiling that seemed to show a beam of sunlight, but both had become ashes before anything else was done. Once they were cleared out of the way, another door opened up, as if the monsters were guarding it. Sir Daniel stepped inside, seeing…

A bedroom? A rather futuristic and interesting one at that. Several bizarre weapons were in a glass case, that Sir Daniel knew he couldn't use. Along with that was a framed photograph of Palethorn back when he was a person. Didn't need to see that. There was a battery on the dresser though, along with scattered objects like pens, a gas mask, and another note.

 

 

> _**CAPTAIN'S LOG** _
> 
> _**EARTH DATE 1890**_
> 
> _"Complete collection nearly creatures of earthling! Experiment will I them all on! Done when, them send to Mars, our for museum of history Earth! Thanks many to Palethorn. No idea them he got where from. Bad too, no mermaids. Very interested much them in, if exist they."_

This was making Daniel's head kind of hurt. The Captain obviously wanted to do research on some rather odd things, so was Palethorn delivering whatever she asked by stealing from the museum? That's what it seemed like, except for the vampire. How that got in there, was beyond his knowledge. On the plus side though, there was a Life Bottle sitting on the bed, just for Daniel.

Now all Daniel had to do was hook everything up to that one boulder, north of the main hall. No sign of any Souls Chalice, even though there were little to no evil souls besides the ones that were being locked up for research.

Placing the explosive sticks near the boulder, Sir Daniel took a step back, placing the batteries inside the remote carefully, making sure his distance was safe enough, then Daniel pressed the red button.

The whole blockade exploded, with no sign of anyone underneath, contrary to what Kift had said. But now, the time machine was just in Daniel's reach!

* * *

It was eerily quiet when Sir Daniel stepped in. The time machine stood there, covered in dust, only a single sheet of paper laid on the ground.

Even when Daniel looked in all the corners of the room, it was far too dark for him to see anything. No torch to light, and firing arrows certainly wouldn't help right now. It was nerve wrecking. Everything else in the ruin was just like any other crypt or the museum, but this place felt more like the Greenwich Naval Academy.

With no other options, Daniel was forced to read the single page on the floor.

 

 

> _**CAPTAIN'S LOG** _
> 
> _**EARTH DATE 1890**_
> 
> _"Betrayed me Palethorn… Control took of all Octomators, them mutated to form early evolved not. Magic horrible! Is broken my heart… Had help to escape Kift and Montagew. Here stuck, forever._
> 
> _I die can't. Advanced enough far without nourishment, non-evolved unlike stage. Whoever by comes—"_

The note was cut off. Sir Daniel lifted his head in fright, seeing the lights turn on.

"It hold, there right!"

In a panic, Sir Daniel and Winston looked over behind them. There stood a woman, wearing some form of a general's uniform that was a mix of purple, silver, and gold. A dark violet cape was attached to the back of her outfit. Her hair made up of tentacles, and she donned a bright-green gas mask.

"You belongs to me have something!"

Winston just blinked, while Daniel kept staring. "What did she say?" The alien raised her raygun, making them freak out even further. "Wait, wait! Are you the Octomator Captain? You really are alive?"

"Palethorn monsters from, out get, or will I make you!" With that, she fired the gun, but both Daniel and Winston moved out of the way in time. "Stealing machine time him for, give the key me!"

Nothing was going to get through her, between Winston being unable to convince her, and Daniel… Well, it would be impossible for someone with broken English like her to be speaking with a jawless skeleton normally.

He didn't want to, but since she was a captain, there was no harm in fighting her until she was tamed. Sir Daniel ran around the room, taking out his magic longbow. "Weapons useless and old work won't on me!" She then paused, trying to recharge her raygun, allowing Daniel to hit her with his hero's sword while the captain was wide open.

But Daniel couldn't just waste all of his ammo it seemed. The captain caught on already, and picked up her movements, dodging anything fired at her, or kicking him out of the way when Daniel tried swiping any weapon at her. "Too slow, pace pick the up!" Even though the captain was rather intimidating, Sir Daniel was trying not to laugh at her wording, especially at a time like this.

All of this was actually futile now. There wasn't any way he could weaken someone so nimble. Unless he had something that would lock onto the captain once it found a good place to…

Wait, maybe the lightning from the Mullock King!

Charging up energy, and then unleashing the harsh bolts on the captain while she had her raygun raised, she was literally quite shocked. All sorts of gibberish of a completely unfamiliar language from another world poured out from her mouth. "Gah! My kind weak are to electricity open, curses! Worn rubber should have." She then kept firing her weapon, while Sir Daniel dashed out of the crosshairs.

It drained more out of the Octomator Captain than anticipated, she still maintained a lot of her stamina and never slowed, but Daniel knew that one last charged attack of lightning would probably stun her. Hopefully, not kill her. He pointed his hand at the captain again, who once again couldn't avoid the bolts even if she tried.

"Agh!" She grunted, falling over and clutching her gas mask, which was torn apart. Smoke emitted from her body, no doubt the lightning had singed her quite a bit.

Winston gave a smug expression. "Well, looks like a fried octopus is on the menu tonight!" He chuckled, while Daniel glared at him. "Oh, right. Miss captain? Are you alright?"

Her body shook a little. "Such power… Why, Palethorn's creations skill should not be!"

Getting up, her real face was finally revealed. Far more human-looking than her fellow Octomators. Really, the only thing she shared with them was the sickly yellow eyes that had slits for pupils. Her head was pounding, but she got a good look at Sir Daniel. "That skull one eyed? Sir Daniel Fortisskay, are you?"

Oh great. Another person who referred to Daniel as "Fortisskay".

"Look so you different muscles without. Hm, disappointing. Saw you Iron Slugger fight, your for rooted victory, I as was on checking Palethorn's crimes." Sir Daniel then handed her the key piece missing from the time machine. "What? Give me piece the now, you? Reason what?" His face then drooped a little.

Reading his expression, Winston proceeded to explain it for Daniel. "We need to go back into time and save our friend, Princess Kiya, from being killed! Provided, it doesn't cause a paradox, does it now?"

She then gave a gentle smile. "No. Increases only strength one to who runs their into past self. I done have it much so, our helps evolution." They remained puzzled but were willing to go with what she said for now, mainly for the sake of saving Kiya. "Apologies, the for attack. Hasty am I a bit. Make up it to you I can, by helping!" Daniel felt more of his confidence boosted again. Now he could have a moment to chill for a moment before going back in time, there wasn't any rush, and he was curious about the alien captain. Even if she was going to talk in her botched English.

"I've been wondering this for a while," Winston said, "but where exactly are you Octomators from?"

"Mars, red planet, the year in 6043. Was I tasked bring to back Earth history, thus, I through travel in time get to here!" She explained, even though it only confused Daniel more. "All us of live on saltwater. Mars full is it of. Also plains filled with, some volcanic small activity. Interesting, yes? Octomators, cephalopod are evolved Martians. Are Martians all saltwater-life types." The captain then sighed, sounding a bit upset. "Brainwashed my kind, Palethorn, he when got power much. Are all now brainless leeches. Feel don't bad too for killing them."

"Captain, do you have a, uh, proper name for us to call you by?" Sir Daniel asked. "Also, why were you wearing that strange piece of gear on your face?

"My name? Don't I anyone tell, classified my is title!" Turning her head, she pouted, realizing that her headstrong personality was showing again. "But, you for… am I Hesperia Planum. Because, say they am hot-headed at times, and mother like was volcano. With explosive fury! As my gas-mask for, I sick get the from Earth gross air. Suppose do not I need it."

That explained why she was so hasty to lash out against Sir Daniel without knowing him. Still, Daniel couldn't help but find himself now chuckling at her wording, no matter how hard he tried not to. "Hey, I, am, still, learning, English!" Planum snapped, clenching her raygun. "Well, stopped I had. Teaches no one me, speech so my jumbled. Are earthlings rude, can I understand you barely begin to with!"

Yeesh, that last part hit Sir Daniel pretty hard. She was right, he wasn't in any position to make fun of her. "Sorry," Daniel apologized, "er, your wording aside, you do seem to be very intelligent. You do all this research that I don't understand at all." He tried to smile sincerely, with his jawless skull. "I never would have believed this sort of life was out there if I had been told during my day. Didn't expect to have a pleasant conversation with one like you either."

Her face began brightening up. If she had human blood, Planum would've been as red as her home planet. "Ah, really you…? Don't such say!" Planum giggled, confusing Sir Daniel. "You'll wish me make I somehow for fell you instead of Palethorn! And can't I relations be the with undead." She then paused, pondering the thought. "I think. Maybe, could I experiment, to out find later."Daniel was going to try and forget he heard that. He had no intention of being abducted by an alien for potential experiments."

Daniel was going to try and forget he heard that. He had no intention of being abducted by an alien for potential experiments. "Quit trying to make small talk with the Octomator Captain, Daniel. We have to go back in time and stop the Ripper!" Winston scolded, floating over to the time machine. Sir Daniel and Hesperia Planum followed soon after.

"Well very, Fortisskay. Us let leave, the for past. You save can your friend, I go will after fellow Octomators the in sewers. The level pull, Fortisskay!" She jumped into the seat and pulled Sir Daniel into the passenger one. "Up buckle, we here go! Hours three ago, Whitechapel at." Planum set the dials, and then pressed a button.

A giant portal opened, Sir Daniel clutched onto the seat with one hand, and the captain with the other, who was caught by surprise and smiled a little. Winston just stood in the middle, amazed at all the spacey colors flying by them as they traveled.

Daniel was just kinda of screaming, this wasn't he expected from traveling back into a time machine. But he had to save Kiya, it was best to vemt out any fears he had now, so he could face the Ripper bravely. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I originally posted this, I said I made this sub-plot with the Octomators to clear up holes that were in the original MediEvil 2. Looking back, I'm glad I did it because I always found the parts involving Kiya's death and time travel to be a bit irritating.
> 
> Suddenly aliens for no reason in that one area, and the Octomators never got much explanation to begin with.


	12. Jack the Ripper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I hate AO3. Uh, I mean, Daniel goes back in time to fight the Ripper.

which hThe time machine landed carefully, Sir Daniel and Winston jumped out, while Planum took off. "I'm going sewers the to. Care take of the Ripper. Bring maybe to back me experiments for. Will we up meet again, promise!" Saluting the captain before running to the clock tower, seeing Princess Kiya against the Ripper.

She fired a pistol, only for the Ripper to vanish from midair and dash around. Sir Daniel sprinted over to Kiya, who was shocked to see him. "Daniel? How did you get here!? I thought—" Before anything else could be said, Daniel jumped in front of Kiya, holding up his sword.

"Am I on time now?" He mumbled.

Jack the Ripper reappeared, his claws clashing against the blade. He sneered slightly, going from a smirk to a grimace. "A knight, trying to protect vermin in the guise of a princess? Killing her the first time wasn't easy back when we were both mere human mortals, but I see even with the newfound powers from the dark skies, that the purification of Whitechapel will not be easy!" Hissing, he drew back.

Kiya just grinned. "Your arrival was perfect, Daniel. I guess I couldn't handle this on my own like I had hoped. But, I can still avenge those who have fallen to this freak that believes he's doing things for greater good!" She then withdrew some throwing knives, while Winston chimed in.

"You two need to both make an effort at making sure he doesn't kill either one of you. Daniel, you can use the Good Lightning we got to help Kiya if she's hurt, even if it pains you!"

Kiya was notably a bit quicker than Daniel, especially her own sprint when getting distance from the Ripper. The daggers and pistol were weaker than Daniel's longbow, but she was carrying so much ammo in her pockets.

In contrast, when Daniel took his turn, he waited for the Ripper to reappear before swinging his sword at him. The magic longbow was also effective, but compared to Kiya, Sir Daniel's firing was not as quick, therefore easy for the Ripper to avoid. Along with that was the fact that Daniel was constantly trying to heal Kiya, who often got reckless. Dan meanwhile, was a bit klutzy, all of these were things that the Ripper took advantage of, allowing him to either sneak up on either one of them or catch them off-guard.

"Such unorthodox movements. Do you think that taking turns in hurting me will really end this?" He hissed at them. "You will feel sorry for even thinking that getting in the way of my patrol was a good idea, knight. Now come here!" Taunting Sir Daniel, he then chased after him, cackling maniacally.

Tossing more knives at him, the Ripper snarled, turning his attention back to Kiya. Vanishing once again, he sneaked over and reappeared from behind. But before he could raise his clawed hand to grab her, Sir Daniel fired another arrow from afar, allowing Kiya to get away. "Tch, you are far more cunning than I thought."

He then began hopping violently against the walls, trying to get a swipe at either Kiya or Daniel. "Let me just kill you already, and cleanse this place of filth!" The Ripper was cleared growing frustrated, now that more than half of his stamina was depleted. Princess Kiya took careful aim with the pistol before firing at him, just as he was going to grab for Sir Daniel.

Standing before the both of them and feeling his power grow, the Ripper roared and stretched his arms out as he stood up straight. Fiery balls of magic began crashing down, having the color of blood, and creating a small explosion as they met the ground. Sir Daniel raised his shield to block the oncoming attacks, knowing that he could only protect himself so many times before it needed repair. Kiya on the other hand, was fast enough to avoid each explosion. The Ripper appeared to be invulnerable in this state until he had finished, so there wasn't much that either of them could do.

This was becoming tedious now. Sir Daniel had to end this battle soon, or it would grow weary. Swinging his sword constantly at the Ripper didn't do much unless he was distracted. Running out of options and getting worried, he took out the lightning and used whatever remnants were still available from his battle against the captain. Although it didn't do as much damage on the Ripper compared to Planum, he did become paralyzed from the zap for a couple of seconds. It gave Daniel enough time to come back and deliver the final blow against the Ripper.

Knocked down onto the wet ground, the rain continued pouring on them. Sir Daniel stepped over to him, pointing his sword at the infamous serial killer. Jack, the Ripper himself trembled at the fact he was now cornered. "Sir, honorable knight.Please, spare me," the Ripper begged, "I am only trying to help purify the world, I swear on it. Don't you understand?"

Sir Daniel lowered the weapon, about to show a sliver of sympathy, and just as a grin formed on the Ripper's face…

"A knight with honor like Sir Daniel may spare you. But I will not, self-proclaimed purifier!"

The Ripper's eyes widened for a mere second, he was met with a pistol to his face. A single shot knocked the murderer onto his back, killing him immediately. Princess Kiya then put the gun away, much to the shock of both Sir Daniel and Winston.

"Now that I have avenged the poor women who had fallen by his hand, I feel as if a weight is lifted off my shoulders and I can move on soon," Kiya said, sighing in relief. "But not before we stop Palethorn's plans!" She suddenly proclaimed. During all of this, the Ripper's body had vanished into a batch of evil souls, drifting off towards the top of the clock tower. The sky began to clear up, the storm slowly going away, as a Chalice of Souls formed, floating down towards Daniel and Kiya.

However, a voice broke the quiet scene. "What the? Hey now, is that us?" All three turned around, to meet the actual present-time Winston, and Sir Daniel rushing over. "What in the world is going on here? We have doubles?"

Sir Daniel waved at his past self, and then said hello. Reaching out to shake each other's hand, a bright glow came from them. Blinded by the light, Kiya had to turn away and shut her eyes, along with the two ghosts.

When it faded, they could see that only one Sir Daniel was standing there, wearing genuine, heavy, gold-plated armor. He examined himself, smiling. It seemed that the captain was right after all.

Winston's eyes sparkled. "You got stronger from just interacting with your past self? Then that means…" He turned around to the double, and they poked each other, only for the other ghost to poof out of existence completely. "Wha? Oh, this isn't fair! I was hoping I could be alive again." He then groaned, pouting childishly.

All Kiya could do was giggle about the whole thing. "Now then, with the Ripper gone, and Whitechapel safe, I suppose we should return to the Professor with good news. Right, hero?" Sir Daniel nodded in agreement, with the Souls Chalice in his hand.

* * *

Kift was overjoyed when he saw that both Sir Daniel and Kiya had returned. "Oh my goodness, you're both safe!" He exclaimed, running over to hug the both of them. "Kiya, I'm sorry, and Daniel— Where did you get that armor? Why am I getting side-tracked? You're alright, and that's what matters! I shouldn't have let either of you go do something so dangerous!" Winston rolled his eyes at the professor.

"You worry too much, professor," Winston sighed, "still, are we forgetting someone?" The ghost questioned.

And that was answered with a strange aircraft; the time machine, suddenly crashing in.

"Oh, right, now I remember. Hello again, captain lady!" Kift nearly had a heart attack when the time machine just appeared. It shocked him further that Winston and Sir Daniel were taking this so lightly like they had met her before.

Stepping out of the ship, the Octomator Captain grinned. "Success, Fortisskay!" She proclaimed. "Restored sanity Octomators, returned I have, safely. Greetings, Kift!"

"But how!?"

"Time travel, professor!" Winston answered cheerfully. "In an alternate timeline, we went to save the Octomator Captain from where she was blocked off. We met ourselves, and now Dan's strength has increased. With this, we have a pretty strong upper-hand against Palethorn now!"

Kift's confusion soon turned into excitement upon hearing that. It was the best news he had heard all week. "Why, that's amazing! Er, miss Octomator Captain, I still sincerely apologize for what happened in the past, if I knew things would have gotten so bad I would have never been partners with Palethorn in the occult. I must ask you though, what other advantages are there to the time machine besides this?"

"Glad asked you. Fortisskay can back go areas to if one anything he missed. Or, to possibly run areas in again, wasting without time." Kift partly cringed at her talking, he had forgotten entirely about Planum's broken English vocabulary.

"Well then, if that's the case, Daniel, you can either go straight to the great cathedral, where Palethorn is planning his last attack that will spread across London— No, the world, if he gets a good enough view for his targeted areas! But, if you aren't ready, you can use the time machine, and almost nothing will be wasted with your temporary departure."

This was all good to know, not that Daniel needed it really at this point, unless he left some chalices somewhere. He kind of doubted that though, considering he was now carrying ten, two of which he had found not too long ago. There was a weapon in particular that he was itching to get by now.

* * *

The Chalice of Souls that Daniel had found in the Sewers was turned in first, and Daniel had gotten a Life Bottle in exchange. Not exactly what he had expected, but an extra amount of health was always good. Upon turning in the second, which was obtained after the Ripper's defeat, made Professor Kift step back and start counting on his metal fingers.

"One, two, three, four, so on… ten!" He exclaimed. "Daniel, you have found ten chalices, my dear boy! That's such an impressive feat, why, I do believe that might be all of the chalices in all of London. But unfortunately, I don't think I have any more material to make a weapon or Life Bottle for you." Sir Daniel's upper jaw drooped a little, disappointed, as he had hoped to get a magic longsword for all of his hard work.

"Solution a one I have. Fortisskay, this take!" Planum then walked over, holding up her raygun. "Stronger it's than bullets and arrows! Runs never out of ammo. Instead, recharges it!" She handed it over, only for Daniel to realize that her fingers and palms had suctions on them, making it difficult to pull the weapon away from her. "Oops, sorry." She apologized with a giggle, mildly embarrassed. Daniel couldn't help but chuckle along with her, just to make things feel less awkward.

Planum managed to undo the grip on her suctions, allowing Sir Daniel to hold the futuristic weapon. "Aim just, charge, fire the trigger with!" He appreciated the help, but really, Dan was more than capable of handling a gun at this point. Winston couldn't help but notice Kiya looking rather irritated at the interaction between those two.

"I never mentioned this Daniel," Professor Kift started, "but Palethorn was missing a page or two from Zarok's spell-book. I almost wonder if that's what caused him and the others to transform into those beastly creatures. If that's the case, what a strange side-effect it is. Perhaps it's punishment to those who aren't proper sorcerers or dare open the book without all the pages."

"What about Lord Kardok though?" Sir Daniel asked.

"Hm? Are you still on thinking about him? Maybe we'll find an answer by the end, or something. We're close to the last stand after all!"

This was true enough. "Professor, are you feeling better about yourself?" Best not to tread on Winston's past, even though Daniel was well aware of it thanks to the alternate time he was in. "I just want you to know you've been a great help through the whole ordeal, no matter what you think about yourself, really."

"My self-esteem will never the greatest," Kift said with a sigh, "but I'm just happy that you, Kiya, and the captain were all safe in the end. If only Monty was here to see it, he would be thrilled to know that the captain was alive and well with us!" Now that Daniel thought about it, he should bring it up to the Spiv, maybe convince him to reunite with the professor.

Now that Daniel thought about it, he should bring it up to the Spiv, maybe convince him to reunite with the professor. He would probably find him at the cathedral, considering how the Spiv popped up just about everywhere. Now was a good time to go on out there, and finish what Palethorn had started.

"Well old boy," Professor Kift spoke, "I don't know what else to say other than good luck. We'll all be rooting for you. It seems that you really know what you're doing, especially with that new armor. You are a true hero to not just Gallowmere now, but the world!"

Kift, Planum, and Kiya all waved goodbye as Sir Daniel exited the underground lab along with Winston by his side. No turning back.

He was going to face Palethorn… or would he meet up with his old enemy, Lord Kardok?

If the former was the case, it would all be done. If Daniel met the latter, he could verify his suspicions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was so excited to post the chapter of the boss fight with best boy Ripper, but then AO3 deleted it when I clicked "preview". Wow, amazing.
> 
> Ugh. Anyway, Cathedral is next, if I can even get things done.
> 
> Initially, I wanted to make Princess Kiya more helpful, rather than just running around as a target, that way the Ripper fight feels a bit more balanced and Kiya isnt… well, useless.


	13. Cathedral Spires

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sir Daniel scales the Cathedral, and meets his old enemy for the last time, discovering the truth of what's really going on with him.

Large and intimidating. There stood the cathedral before Sir Daniel. This was really it.

There were a couple of things on his mind, but they didn't make Sir Daniel stop walking towards the tower. Stone gargoyles stood on top of the building, spitting fire while a light shined through the windows at the peak.

"It seems that a number of good souls are imprisoned within this place. The cathedral is drawing its demonic power from them. So if we free them, we might stand more of a chance!" Winston said, eyeing the place around. "Where's the Spiv, I wonder? I think the armor you have can be charged up for an increase of defense and such."

Where was he hiding actually? Now would be a good time to bring him the good news if the Spiv didn't know yet. Climbing up a ladder, Daniel saw the crook tucked away into a corner, having his usual grin. Part of Sir Daniel figured that since this was not too long after his encounter with the Ripper, that the Spiv would be in the sewers.

Either way, he didn't seem displeased at seeing Sir Daniel at all compared to the alternate timeline. "Ah, good t'see ya, mate. I initially intended on goin' on me own business for somethin', but I saw tha' gold armor, and just had t'follow ya here!" The Spiv chuckled, before realizing that Daniel and Winston looked as if something was on their mind. "Wha' y'wanna say t'me?"

Sir Daniel just smiled. "The Octomator Captain is alive, Monty, safe and sound!" The Spiv's usually cocky grin went away in an instant.

"The bloody heck kinda prank is this? It's not funny! I—"

He then actually tilted his hat upward, showing his dark-brown, sleepless eyes with tons of circles underneath. "Heh, nah, I know y'well enough by now. Y'wouldn't lie t'me. I mean, you are Sir Daniel Fortesque. I just wish it was me tha' knew she was alive and could bring 'er back. How worthless am I?" Removing the hat entirely, he gave a soft smile that wasn't shady at all for once.

"Nonsense, you helped us in—" Sir Daniel shushed Winston before he could confuse the Spiv any further. "I mean, how far do you think we would have gone without you, really? Everyone plays a part!" Winston huffed, trying to cover up what had happened.

Opening up his coat, the Spiv tried to hide his emotions once again by a façade. "This is probably the last time I'll be doin' business with ya, if that's true. The Spiv won't be around anymore, and 'Monty' will come back for ya. Y'better stock up now, and stop Palethorn. If not for me then, y'know, for the world."

Daniel did exactly that, blowing off whatever gold he was holding for refills on his Life Bottles, repairs on his shield, tuning up the newly acquired armor, and whatever supplies he needed. Hopefully, it wouldn't all go to waste. It might be worth asking Monty a few questions before he left too.

"Is there anything I need to know about this place before going up there?" Sir Daniel asked, "What should I expect when uh, get up there?"

"Angels," the Spiv answered, "y'ever seen one? Y'can find 'em here. Save 'em, get rid of the demons and bad souls runnin' amuck. Some of 'em have sprouted wings, mate. If y'got a good firearm, y'can shoot 'em down in a single shot. Dunno where to get something long-ranged tha' strong though."

Good thing Daniel was just given the raygun, otherwise this would prove to be much more difficult than it needed to be. Speaking of annoying tasks, there was one thing that Sir Daniel wanted to know before he fought Palethorn, and it was about the item that helped him against Zarok, which he had entirely forgotten about.

"Would you happen to know where the other two Anubis Stone pieces could have gone? I only have two, and I, uh, want to have a good advantage against Palethorn, so I need all four of them." He didn't want to show cowardice now, but even the smallest handicap would have been great. Wasn't like Sir Daniel was going to get a magic longsword anyway.

"Now, wha' makes ya think I know anything about some ol' piece of a rock? All I know one's up there in the cathedral for some reason." That statement made Sir Daniel's mood perk right up. "You said four though, right? Maybe one of 'em is hidin', waitin' for the right time. Not tha' I would know at all."

Yeah, that definitely wasn't suspicious. Wasn't like Daniel could pay him to spill it anyway, since he was running low on gold now. "Best of luck to ya, Daniel. Monty will be here when this is done with, and he has faith in ya."

That certainly made him feel better, and it seemed the Spiv's morale had improved as well. 

Making his way over to the ladder on the other side of the building, Sir Daniel was met with the spirit of an angel just floating there in place, singing a soothing melody. Rescuing the good soul, many were still left to go. When Daniel had climbed up, he was met with quite a familiar growl, coming from what appeared to be a statue at first glance.

His eye averted to something he had not seen since Zarok trying to plunge Gallowmere into darkness, the Shadow Demons, which crumbled out of their stone state. It seemed as if Palethorn had gotten enough power to bring them back. But them flying didn't really stop Daniel, he just took out the newly obtained raygun that Planum gave him, charged it up, and fired.

They exploded instantly, but there weren't any souls to be collected this time. Disappointing, but he already had all the chalices, so there wasn't any point.

Up the next ladder, Daniel narrowly avoided the bucket that tried to pour molten lava on him. Ridding of more Shadow Demons that noticed Dan's presence, he carefully walked past the stone gargoyles, timing his movements just right so he would not be caught in the flames from their jaws.

Now that Sir Daniel cleared the way and slid past obstacles, he went up to the roof from one of the structures and rescued another two other angels. One was outside, and the second was indoors. The door slammed and locked itself when Daniel saved the latter. Three Shadow Demons crashed through the windows and attacked him. Thankfully, the raygun made quick work of them.

This process repeated with the other room, saving the other angel, and then moving on. Sir Daniel went over to the next set of bars to climb, all while avoiding and blocking the fireballs spat at him. The fifth angel he needed to save floated close by, hovering over a platform.

Making his way to the top of the tower, up the spiraling staircase, Daniel finally saw an entrance, which is where things really began…

* * *

A chandelier was there with a lever attached to it. Sir Daniel stepped on it carefully, descending himself downward slowly, allowing him to save the next two angels. Several knights with hefty armor were at the bottom, and unfortunately took a lot of hits, and deflected the raygun. Daniel chose to ignore them, since no souls were being collected, he instead went into another room.

Saving the angel, once again the door shut behind him, making several Devil Dogs lunge at him. Much easier to dispose of than the Shielded Armor Knights. No more time could be wasted on enemies, as Sir Daniel dashed over to another part of the cathedral, rescuing the angels remaining on some shaky, wooden platforms that were maneuvered by pulleys and rope.

At the very end was the last angel already, which rewarded Daniel's efforts. "Bless your kind soul, hero. Please, the warrior who awaits you, show him forgiveness. Unlike Palethorn, he had done no wrong."

With that, they all flew away out of the tower, free to do as they pleased, eliminating all of the remaining monsters before dropping a free Life Bottle and unlocking the large door standing before Dan.

Lord Kardok? That's the warrior they were referring to, right? Done nothing wrong? Sir Daniel could easily beg to differ. Unless someone else was inside the cathedral, but Daniel wasn't going to look for them now. He had to focus on finding a way to reach to the very top, where he saw that glowing window. Surely, the Anubis Stone piece had to be there.

The music of a heavy pipe-organ was playing somewhere inside, but impossible to find. Not that it mattered. Heading into the inner works of the cathedral, Winston examined the area. "I think that something is shining over there! Like a gear of the sort." The ghost then eyed the small, wooden elevator. "That might be our ticket upstairs, Dan! But with all those spinning cogs, other maneuvers, and such small platforms," gulping, the ghost looked down at himself. "I'm lucky I can float, but, I don't think you're so lucky, Daniel."

Sir Daniel trembled a bit, before seeing a green hand crawling around. He popped his head off and placed it on top before sliding underneath a small hole in the gate that blocked everything off. Taking control, he slowly hopped over to each platform, careful that the Dan-Hand didn't slip. "Watch your step! Goodness, who even allowed it to be so dangerous over here? I mean, yes, there's a gate that stops people, but still." Winston sighed, trying not to get motion sickness despite being a ghost.

Obtaining the small, golden gear that was on a piece of wood, Daniel used a larger, nearby cog with intense force to fling him back to his own body. Taking his own head back along with the object, he placed it inside of the slot that needed to power the elevator.

Standing on top of the creaky wooden platform, all Sir Daniel had to do was push a button, to send him to the top of the cathedral. The height should have frightened him, but Daniel chose not to look down.

Until the very last second, where he saw parts of the wood were falling apart, about to break any moment. In which he panicked, and ran over to the floor when the elevator finally reached the top. If Daniel wasn't already dead, he would've had a heart attack.

There stood a door, with a light peaking through. Could it be? The third piece of the Anubis Stone?

* * *

When he stepped inside, Daniel confirmed his suspicions, seeing the stone piece on top of a pedestal, guarded by an evil spirit. A bony body with tattered wings and no legs, having a spiked skull for a head with piercing red eyes. The angels flew towards the dark soul, tormenting it with their power, as it burned alive from the holy power. The barrier around the stone piece had vanished, and the angels took off one last time once the dark soul was nothing but ash, leaving Sir Daniel to take the third piece of the Anubis Stone.

It was almost too easy… Well, not really, but Palethorn was nowhere in sight, even though Daniel had been led into believing that he would be there. Perhaps everyone was mistaken?

He could hear the door creaking open. Only Daniel and Winston were the ones inside the cathedral. It wasn't like the Spiv would have followed them for help, and the trotting sounded all too familiar.

Sir Daniel turned around, and saw the centaur standing there.

"Fortesque," he spoke, "this is it. We shall decide which one of us is the superior warrior. I will fulfill Palethorn's last demand: 'Stop Sir Daniel Fortesque from saving freeing the lost angels!'… But you know, I could care less for his plan, despite me being his devoted right-hand man, nor do I care for his thirst for power." Kardok confessed, much to Sir Daniel's surprise. "All of this, was to have a fair fight you."

Sir Daniel took out the lance once more, knowing what would happen next. Kardok chuckled, a gleam in his eyes. "Prepared, are we? Let us not talk any further. I'll finish you, and drag your body around for fun!" His voice partly cracked, before unsheathing his own weapon.

It was the same battle as last time, although this time Kardok was a bit faster and much more aggressive. Sometimes, he would charge into the walls by accident when trying to aim for Daniel, but missing the mark completely. The cathedral shook from his attempt to impale it. When he backed up to shoot arrows from his longbow, they started off on fire this time.

"This cathedral," he started again, "should I fall, then I will try to take  _you_ , and this whole place down with me!" Sir Daniel was tempted to use the raygun really, but for the sake of being sake, the magic longbow did just fine. Even then, it seemed that somehow, when Daniel got bored and tried it, the raygun was easily avoided or… Almost reflected.

Awaiting for him to charge straight at Sir Daniel, he lifted up his own heavy lance and moved to the side, piercing Lord Kardok—

… His hides suddenly had smoke coming out after the blow.

"Curses!" Kardok staggered, backing away from Sir Daniel. "How about this then?" He fired magic arrows this time, albeit with dark magic and not the kind Daniel was using. Daniel took the moment to use his own again as a counter, which made him stop instantly. "No!" He shouted, "My body!"

Growling in anger and trying to muster all his remaining strength, Daniel was startled to see him this worn out already. Something was clearly wrong here. Kardok charged one last time, but Sir Daniel dodged his lance yet again, stabbing his hides once again.

__

It fell apart.

Robot parts of a horse. Gears stopping, springs coming loose.

Underneath the centaur body was… a pair of human, bony legs with armored boots.

Sir Daniel and Winston just stared, as the man who was believed to be Lord Kardok, the one responsible for killing Sir Daniel in the Battle of Gallowmere, finally removed his hood.

An armored skeleton revealed himself to them. Violet eyes with armor that matched, and a smug look on his jawlines. Finally, he spoke, having some sort of Hungarian accent. "Well, well, looks like my façade is over. That's right, Sir Daniel Fortesque, I am not Lord Kardok, your old enemy— Or should I say, my general!"

"General?" Sir Daniel and Winston looked at each other, while the skeleton tossed all the parts to the side, only still holding the lance.

"Let me tell you a story then, Fortesque…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the second new character written for this fan-fic, which came from the dream I mentioned earlier.


	14. The False One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second OC shows up, as Daniel obtains the third piece of the Anubis Stone.

The scene flashed back to the scene just like at the very start.

_"My general, Lord Kardok. Ah yes, I could remember it like it was yesterday, even though it was hundreds of years ago! When the war first started, you were charging into battle, preparing for the battle against my lord, Zarok and our army. My general stood at the front…"_

One soldier, appearing to be alive and human amongst the hordes of undead beasts, approached the centaur.

_"I told him that you were approaching the battlefield along with all of the king's men. I asked how we should handle it, I was itching for him to let me charge down, and face you myself!"_

But Lord Kardok didn't hesitate. Aiming his longbow, he landed a perfect hit, straight into Sir Daniel's left eye. Daniel didn't even get close to anyone, and he was already killed, in such a disappointing way, too. The soldier watched in shock, before throwing down his helmet in anger.

_"Instead, he finished you… The hero that everyone loved, gone down first!"_

In the distance, amongst the king's army, another man with a crossbow adjusted his position carefully before firing.

_"Shortly after, your canny little friend shot my general thousands of yards away. I too was also done in by one of the king's soldiers, as I was too caught up in my rage, and couldn't control my anger!"_

* * *

It ended as suddenly as it began, and Sir Daniel just blinked with his single eye. He never had seen this person in his life, much less before death at all. "Why are you angry at me about Kardok? The king's second in command, my friend— Er, Canny Tim killed him." Part of Daniel was trying to weasel himself out of the fact he had killed Kardok when Zarok revived them both, provided this soldier didn't know about it.

"I was not angry about my general's death— In fact, I'm actually impressed that he got killed from so far away. Quite the shot your friend has. Anyway, I was infuriated!" The skeleton shouted. "He had gotten to you before I could. And after all of the planning I had on how to fight you, face-to-face, mano y mano, to dance with blades at our throats! The one constantly praised and spoken of in Gallowmere, how I always hated how you were the talk of the town. I wanted to topple you, and drag your body out to the public, they could see how badly Gallowmere's hero had fallen to the perfect enemy!"

… This guy was psycho to Daniel and Winston, not helped by his maniacal laughter. "You were jealous?" Winston asked.

"Of Kardok? No. Of Fortesque? Still no. I simply craved to fight someone everyone considered to be a hero!"

Part of Sir Daniel was actually glad that this soldier had no idea most of those things about him were made up, but on the other hand, it may have made him a more of, well, a foolish adversary. "Isn't this just the perfect twist? Just during the climax, with the world slowly ending, you think my old general is clashing against you, but instead, Sir Hamis; the great knight, reveals himself at last! Are you more afraid than before, Daniel?"

"Not really," Sir Daniel mumbled, "actually, this is less threatening…"

"What!? Why, have at you then!" Swinging the lance, Sir Daniel quickly countered by moving and using his own to disarm Hamis. He smiled at how timely Sir Daniel acted, rather than being his usual, clumsy self. "Not bad, I guess I shall rely on this!"

Unsheathing a blade twice the size of Daniel's sword that was at his waist, Dan's eye widened.

A magic sword!?

Yet it was completely different from the one Sir Daniel— well, Dirk Steadfast— had used. The blade was jagged like the Woden's Brand, but mostly silver. The handle was black, but the whole blade was surrounded in a magic, purple aura of some kind.

"En garde!" Hamis shouted. "I am not like the other, petty knights you had slain before, so try your hardest!" Charging at him, Sir Daniel raised his blade, blocking the attack and slashing at Hamis in return.

Never before really, had Sir Daniel done a close-combat type of match, and Hamis was clearly showing his experience! Able to shove him off, Daniel began to swipe at the other soldier's armor, making him jump back, and recollect himself.

"After all these years, my desires are finally in reach, standing right in front of me. I will ravish in your defeat!" He cackled, stepping over to him slowly. Daniel knew that running away wouldn't solve anything, and all distant weapons were simply be blocked off upon trying them, even the heavy lance and raygun, surprisingly.

Thankfully, his health was half-way down during when the disguise popped off firstly, and it seemed that this was only the latter half of a battle. But even then, Hamis only took a certain amount of damage which wasn't a lot, until a portion of his armor popped off.

When he took another blow to the shoulder, Hamis was exposed further, and a violet glow came from his insides. "That's right, keep trying to hurt me, damage me!" Holding up the magic sword, a purple tongue formed between his skeletal teeth, and licked the blade. "I burn with fury and excitement from craving such an intense battle!"

Of all the things Daniel had met, a "combat sadomasochist" wasn't one of them until now. He had to ignore it and keep fighting. Hamis' movements became faster, most likely because of him losing the weight of his own armor pieces. It wasn't long before he was running straight at Sir Daniel in hopes of catching him distracted. "One of us has to fall eventually! What will fate tilt towards?!" Hamis growled, being shoved back once again, and then being dealt the last couple of swipes with the hero's sword.

For the last time, the front portions of his torso armor were sliced off of his body.

A deep-purple, beating heart coated in flames and magic stood there. "My energy exposure!" Hamis gasped, then collapsed onto his knees. "Have I really… Yes, I knew it from the start. No matter how hard I trained my body, deep down, I imagined that fate would tilt in your favor somehow." He began breathing heavy, despite not having lungs. "I have reached my limit, Fortesque. I may have lost, yet I am satisfied with this battle. You have put up a wonderful fight, and for that, I respect you."

There, he collapsed, without much of another word. Still alive, but not moving much. All the insane turns of events had finally ended.

Sir Daniel finally went over to the pedestal, where the third piece of the Anubis Stone was. Taking it in his hands—

The entire cathedral began to rumble. Daniel figured it was due to it being rather unstable, such a brawl that took place, and Hamis drilling holes in the walls by accident. Raising his body again, Hamis spoke one last time.

"This place cannot hold itself well without the Anubis Stone," he explained, "I told you… that I would take you down with me!" Hamis lied on the floor, smirking, which then melted into a look of pity. "I apologize for that, for I did not intend for us to go down, but it was something that Lord Palethorn had mentioned. Flee while you can, Fortesque, for someone like you should be stopping Palethorn. You have earned my respect, and you should not waste your life with that!"

Winston and Daniel were practically panicking, but also unsure.

"Can we really just leave this weirdo here!?" The ghost stammered

__

Even though he was odd, what with his motivations making little sense and being so thrilled over a duel…

Hamis put up a nice, clean fight. No fancy powers like the Count or the Ripper, besides some dark magic embedded in him. He was a good opponent to have and didn't seem like a bad person, perhaps. Just bizarre for the most part. He even openly praised Sir Daniel, which was something he didn't get very often, especially from a foe.

If he hadn't been more honorable than the actual Lord Kardok, or liked giving Sir Daniel a sporting chance, then the option wouldn't have been there at all.

Sir Daniel lifted up his skeletal body, taking him by surprise. "W-what are you doing!?" Hamis questioned, panicking at Daniel's sudden actions. "Put me down, you're not supposed to save me, I'm supposed to go down with pride!"

Ignoring Hamis' demands, Daniel began carrying him. First thing he did was jump down the height where the elevator collapsed. His movements were partly slowed because of the weight from Hamis' armor. Backtracking all the way over to the chandelier room where he once came, Sir Daniel pulled the switch, so the both of them could be carried back up.

As they both reached the entrance where he came from the roof, Sir Daniel made a sprint out while still lugging the body on his shoulder. Explosions came from behind him as he made a jump off of the cathedral as a whole, and kept running, growing weary quickly after all that.

He watched the cathedral collapse on itself for a moment, flames bursting out from the gargoyles and molten lava. After a couple of seconds, he made his way back to Kift's lab, one last time…

* * *

"Palethorn's plan has come to an end, Daniel!" Professor Kift cheered, as did everyone else. "Congrats on finding three of the Anubis Stone pieces! One more should be… Well, actually, like I said before, if you need anything, please, feel free to ask the Octomator Captain if you want to go back— Oh! I have a surprise for you as well." Kift then turned over to someone new, yet somewhat familiar.

A shady-looking, monster-like faced man in a small jacket stood there. "The name's Monty. Montague, t'be more clear. But I think y'knew tha' already, Daniel." He sighed a bit, trying to share a smile with Sir Daniel before the professor continued.

"The only place left to go where high activity readings are is… oh no," Professor Kift shuddered, "the Parliament? What on Earth is Palethorn going to do? Was the cathedral a ruse? I thought he was there! Daniel, we must hurry, I don't know what he's plotting now—"

"Most likely t'try and turn the queen into a monster, like wha' happened with the Ripper," Monty pointed out, "Still, hurryin' is a good idea. Unless y'got somethin' still left t'do, Daniel."

Sir Daniel paused for a moment. Was there anything left?

"Enough talking!" Hamis then popped into the scene, startling just about everyone. "Are you going to fix my armor, or what? I cannot have myself seem vulnerable!"

Monty scowled at him. "Calm y'britches, I'm gonna try and mend it in a moment. Kift, help me out with this loudmouth." Hamis stuck his tongue out at the man who used to be a spiv, before looking at Sir Daniel.

"Saving the likes of me," Hamis grumbled, "you, uh, really are that much of a hero, huh?" He then looked at his own waistline, unsheathing the blade that was there. "You know what? Here, take it! My magic sword. I've had it for years, and it was constantly tempered by Zarok's magic. I don't know what else Palethorn is up to, I only joined to try to fight you. But, since I'm here, I guess this means, I should be on this side of the battlefield until we have a proper fight again."

Sir Daniel's face beamed. Finally, the most powerful weapon besides the raygun, was now his.

Almost everything was complete, but where was the last Anubis Stone piece? He only now had three.

"I know one thing though for certain," Hamis smirked. "I failed to mention it during our battle, which would have been bad of me. Your armor protects your most vulnerable point as well, doesn't it? Near your heart!" He then paused, staring at Sir Daniel's chest plate. "But, how long do you intend on hiding that last page, containing the Soul Demon?"

Last page? What was he talking about? Unless…

To get it off of his mind, Sir Daniel decided now was a good time to know more about his rival. "You were a warrior of Zarok's," Daniel stated, a hint of venom in his voice, "have you ever slain anyone in battle?"

"Uh, no, actually," Hamis replied, making Daniel give him a skeptical look. "What's with that look? I never had the chance to, that's all! I did knock people unconscious if I had to. Don't hold it against me, I helped Zarok for reasons similar to me joining Palethorn, alright? It's a long story how we met, and you're probably not interested."

"I see," part of Daniel was a little relieved to hear that. "I should mention that you're actually very skilled, for a warrior of Zarok's." Daniel would have admitted that Hamis was most likely better at swordplay than him, as Daniel probably only won that fight with a stroke of luck and timing, but he wasn't that humble. "Your uh, armor is pretty nice too, even if a bit gothic."

Looking surprised, Hamis felt his bony face brighten up. "What? Flattery!?" He exclaimed, stepping back in embarrassment. It was like he wasn't used to the compliments at all. "I know I am amazing, but it won't get you anywhere, Fortesque. I am still a bitter enemy of yours, no matter how much praise you throw at me!"

… With that, Sir Daniel turned his attention back to Kift.

"Honestly, that one did a good job at putting on the Kardok act appearance-wise, but I guess his personality stuck out too much, hm?" Kift said to Daniel. "Funny thing about when you brought him back here, he says he doesn't actually want to avenge Kardok, he actually hated him and did his own training! What a strange fellow he is."

Indeed, that was something Daniel and Kift could agree on. "Professor," Daniel started, "what is this Soul Demon?"

Trembling at the mere mention of it, the pipe dropped out of Kift's mouth, and he didn't even bother to pick it back up. "How did you learn about that?" He questioned with a gulp. "Palethorn wants to use the demon, but the page to summon him is missing. If one is to kill so many innocent souls and collect them in a bloody chalice, that they'd be granted with his power and armor, at the price of their body and soul! Frightening, isn't it? Lucky for the world, none of that happened. Though, I wonder if Palethorn knows about the fact that he has to give up himself to bring the demon forth."

"Zarok had that!?" Sir Daniel exclaimed. "Under his own book, and yet he never used it!?"

"As much of a fiend as he was, it was a good move on his part to never summon it. According to old texts, it was too much for even Zarok to risk. Thank goodness he was never tempted to use it, otherwise your battle against the horrible sorcerer years ago would have been much harder!"

That was all a relief. The page being missing concerned Daniel, especially since it seemed like Hamis knew something, but there wasn't any time to press him. Sir Daniel had to head for the Parliament, where finally, he would end Lord Palethorn's schemes.

But could he really do it, without the last piece of the Anubis Stone…?

No. He didn't need it probably. Sir Daniel had come so far, even with a more limited arsenal this time around. "I'm leaving," Daniel said.

"Are you sure? Have you stocked up on everything?" The professor asked, somewhat worried about Daniel, even though he could clearly handle himself. "Monty isn't a spiv anymore, so he won't charge you if you see him over there. Honestly, Monty, you're much faster than you look at times!"

Professor Kift seemed happy, despite his fears. Not a nervous wreck like usual. Perhaps Kiya being not killed in this timeline, Planum being alive, and Montague coming back was making him feel whole again.

"Hey now, Hamilton, it's a trade secret. When y'go through every alleyway in Kensington, y'eventually find out all the routes and shortcuts. Try it maybe," Monty chuckled, "or not, don't want y'gettin' hurt, mate."

Kiya then looked at Sir Daniel. "Sir Daniel. When you return, uh, how do I put it?" She then paused, thinking over what she wanted to say. "Well, I have a surprise for you, so to say. I'll show you when you get back, alright?"

Planum huffed, then stood in front of Sir Daniel. "Wish the luck best you of, Fortisskay. Goes if wrong anything, help I will you."

All Hamis could do was give a nod of approval. "Don't let my loss be worth nothing to you!"

Sir Daniel waved, leaving. Now, this, was the true final stage…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that ends all the new characters showing up in this fic!
> 
> Hamis is pretty much based off of Lord Kardok's PS1 design, which was replaced with a centaur in Resurrection. I liked Kardok's PS1 design and it was in the dream, so I made it into a separate character from Resurrection!Kardok. 
> 
> The magic sword look is borrowed off of the PS1 title too, since I like it more than the magic longsword in Resurrection. It also makes Hamis's sword appear to be legitimately enchanted.
> 
> The only peculiar thing to note is Hamis was one of the few living humans that were in Zarok's army during the Battle of Gallowmere. He mostly had an undead army, this was partly an oversight but maybe Zarok probably would be the kinda guy to pay greedy goons. I dunno.
> 
> Humorous side-note, which I never shared in this fan-fic originally, Hamis is supposed to be younger than Sir Daniel, by around 10 years or so.


	15. The Parliament

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end goal is near.

The entire parliament was silent. Not a single tune came from the area, only the sounds of creaking, eerily… Sir Daniel wasn't sure how to handle the quietness, but he carried on inside.

All the previous enemies that Sir Daniel had encountered, except for the Octomators had appeared. They each came in pairs, charging at Daniel.

It started with normal zombies, then Green Knights which were initially on display…

Mummies, regal zombies, and imps in the next room…

Bearded women, legless men, magicians after the other…

Sailor zombies, pumpkin plants…

Renfields, vampires…

And finally, the Devil Dogs, Shielded Armor Knights, and Shadow Demons.

The last door in the palace opened up, Sir Daniel couldn't help but noticed a door needing a key nearby. Did he miss something? Even when he backtracked, there wasn't any key of the sort that would open it.

He was allowed to replenish his health one last time at the doorway. Daniel saw Monty— once the Spiv— somehow had followed him, and was now in the corner. Without much to say, he didn't even need to buy anything like armor buffs or shield repairs, Montague was giving it for free this time.

"Should we save or something before going in there? Or turn back?" Winston asked. Sir Daniel didn't have much to say in response, he just went inside the doorway.

If he had missed something, then it wasn't hard to go back and get it.

* * *

Palethorn puffed his cigar, standing there with Mander and Dogman. He smirked. "Before partin' ways, Kardok gave me a useful tip as t'why y'have a use, Dan." Raising his cane-stick, he used dark magic to tug underneath the torso-armor of Sir Daniel. "I'll take tha', thank you very much."

He flinched, seeming sensitive and afraid he was going to destroy the heart-like core that kept him alive, much like what Hamis had. Instead however, the aura formed a hand, and pulled out an old piece of paper.

"Bones, bones, bones!" Dogman bounced, excitedly.

The last page of Zarok's spell-book, it had been inside Sir Daniel's ribcage the whole time. "I was wonderin' where the people who originally found Zarok's book tore out the last page and stuffed it, I'm glad y'saved me the trouble and brought it over. Besides, I knew that you would never give up and turn around so easy, isn't that right Dan?" Palethorn sighed. "Y'should join me. We'd make a great team. Now tha' Kardok, Or should I say, Hamis, is gone. After all, I'm the one who trusted 'im with a steam-powered horse body, but instead, I'm once again lumbered with these two morons."

Mander raised his head. "But master, I—"

"Silence!" Palethorn growled. "Think about it Daniel, an eternity by me side. With my power, I could put flesh on y'bones, give ya a new eye, and a jaw once again, as easy as pie. Y'still have a chance, mate."

Daniel scowled at him, even before Winston could get a word in. "I'd never join you, I'm the Hero of Gallowmere!"

"Wha' was tha'? Could y'mumble tha' again? No? Oh well." Palethorn then harshly shoved Dogman and Mander infront of him. "Y'two idiots redeem yourselves and kill 'im while I try t'decipher this one page." He then exited, slamming the door behind him, leaving Sir Daniel with the duo.

For the most part it was the same fight as last time, though Mander and Dogman were slightly more aggressive this time around. Of course, by default, Sir Daniel had the upper-hand with the magic sword, lightning and raygun. That and the defenses of the magic shield and golden super armor.

Yeah, it was more one-sided than last time. Heaven forbid that Daniel didn't come here without all those weapons and the shield, otherwise he'd be stuck with just the armor. There were some improvements that the duo made since the last fight, such as Mander having a bit more room in the spacious area to run around in. Dogman on the other hand, seemed to have improved on catching Sir Daniel with his paws.

Not particularly hard in any manner though.

* * *

(Dogman disposed of first)

Dogman was knocked onto the ground, knocked out cold. Mander groaned, unimpressed and clearly scared now. "Why do things always have to go this way? You just had to get stronger, didn't you?" He gulped, tugging at his collar before running wild.

He stopped in his tracks, blasting not only fire, but dark magic for a change. "No, I'm not going to run away! Even if it seems hopeless, My utmost, brilliant charisma and cunning, will leave you on the floor, amazed by my magic and speed." Trying to fake a laugh, Mander choked on it and coughed.

The magic was… Actually a bit difficult for Daniel to block off this time. He couldn't run off in time, blocking it with the magic shield depleted its use quite an amount, and his armor… Would also only take so much. Didn't help with the limited amount of Life Bottles.

Sir Daniel knew that the only way to fight this quick reptile was if he also made use of what agility he had, and finish off Mander quickly with the magic sword. At least Mander wasn't relying entirely on his magic, he also took the chance to try and run up to Daniel to swipe at him with his own tail, which never exactly worked.

* * *

(Mander disposed of first)

Grinning at Mander falling over, Dogman barked. "He really is too easy, huh? Don't worry! I'll be the competent one of us two, just so I get the credit from Palethorn! Mander really is the weaker link, as much as I hate to say it!" Cracking his knuckles, the hound lunged at Sir Daniel, snarling constantly.

"I'll turn your bones into tools when I'm done gnawing on them!" As opposed to him throwing his body at Daniel like last time, and then running into a wall, Dogman was outright pouncing him. Sir Daniel could feel Dogman even bite his armored leg a few times.

This was definitely a sign of Dogman improving. Even when he got distracted, Dogman turned back around to where Sir Daniel was standing and got right back to trying to maul him. "Stand still! No fancy-pants armor is gonna stop me! These jaws will clamp on anything!" He laughed, trying once more to grab Daniel with his giant paws.

Drawing back a little, Sir Daniel knew that this was probably a good time to rely on long-range weapons. The ray-gun was perfect for this, the lightning… Was somehow more effective on Mander, probably because of his cane-stick that's always carried around maybe was an effective rod that attracted the bolts more…

When both were done with, Sir Daniel and Winston looked over to Mander. "Honestly, why do you put up with Palethorn? He kind of beasts you two up. Especially you, Mander!" The little ghost huffed, floating over the lizard.

"Because," Mander started, "I'm afraid of him." He confessed, staggering to get up. "I followed him out of fear, not duty. I don't want to betray him, because I don't know what will happen if I do. Complaining to him about anything would surely result in death, you know."

Daniel then eyed Dogman, who was drooling on the ground. "What about him?"

"He's just an idiot who likes to follow either me, or Palethorn out of greed and his own needs. I guess nothing matters now, since I failed this for the last time, he's prone to wanting to kill me now." Mander sighed, only for him to be pulled up off the ground by Sir Daniel himself. "What are you doing? Do not patronize me!"

Winston pouted. "We're just trying to help you, chap! You don't have to work for Palethorn, why don't you just stay with the professor, me, and Monty? Like the good old days."

"No way!" Dogman growled.

"There might be free bones, Dogman." Winston chirped, making Dogman rise up and start panting like an overexcited animal, which he partly was.

Mander just blinked, as if he was seeing a ghost, which he was. "Winston? My, I had blocked out your fate entirely couple years ago when you had, uh passed on. But really, why do you show sympathy, Dan? We are your enemies." In response, Sir Daniel shrugged at him, grinning softly in a goofy manner.

"Right. You are the Hero of Gallowmere. No idea what else I should have expected." Standing back up straight, Mander brushed himself off. "No point in continuing this. It is time to move on just like you said, Winston. We will take our leave." He then dug through one of his pockets. "Here, the least I can do." Tossing a Life Bottle at Sir Daniel, Mander began walking out of the palace. "Come along, Dogman. We might as well find a way to restore our original forms."

Puzzled at the situation, Dogman followed. "You know, I hate it when you treat me like an idiot!" He growled. "But, uh, what's going on?" With that, the both of them exited. Hopefully, Monty was still out there to maybe guide them at best, or stop anything from hurting them.

The door to the throne room then opened.

* * *

"Oh, how bloody joyful. Y'defeated my two servants. How awful, how achingly predictable!" Palethorn laughed a little, trying to hide his annoyance. "Just when I was so close t'decipherin' this. Ah well, plan B is right 'round the corner." He drew back, glancing at the shadow that was sitting on the throne.

It bellowed, before revealing its disgusting form. A giant, deformed queen with horns replacing her tiara. Skin looking saggy, and covered in warts. Pointy nose, blackened eyes with only a small light of yellow showing. Her dress consisted of dark colors, with spiky frills on the collar area.

"All hail the queen of England, Victoria!" Palethorn cackled. "Or should I say, Queen-zilla!" The giant, mutated queen let out a terrifying roar. As Sir Daniel and Winston stared in shock, Palethorn stepped into the airship. "I'm not gonna hold back either! It'll be too easy if it's just 'er, even with the power of Zarok's magic turning 'er into this."

The finale was here, wasn't it?

Queen-zilla jumped out of the throne, slamming her fists down first in an attempt to crush Sir Daniel. He rolled out of the way, while Winston could just shout. "You monster! How could you do this to the queen?" He snapped, rolling up his sleeves, even when they did not exist. "I've had just about enough!" Palethorn just spat in the ghostly child's direction, much to his, and even Sir Daniel's dismay.

"Go home back t'yer grave, kid, ya got no business in this fight!"

"That, does it!" Winston puffed up his cheeks. "It's your fault that the professor doesn't believe in himself like he used to! I'm sorry Daniel. I haven't been helpful at all to you, have I?" Sir Daniel flinched, puzzled at what Winston was saying. "I can't do physical things like you, but… I'm going to really try now!" With that, he floated over to Lord Palethorn's aircraft. "I'll see if there's a way I can distract him, then you can come in for the kill. I don't think your weapons will work on Palethorn alone!"

With that, the battle really began. Two against two. Finally, a fair match! Sir Daniel started by attacking Queen-zilla, only for it to do nothing when he swiped his magic sword at her from the front. "Daniel!" Winston called out. "Those pores on her arms, you have to attack those to drain her strength! I'll see if I can get Palethorn down here." Trying to avoid Queen-zilla's swings, Daniel used his sword on the arm that outstretched itself.

Cutting open one of the bumps, green liquid poured out, making the Queen-zilla screech and stop for a moment to recollect herself. Palethorn glanced over, then looked at his aircraft. "What the devil!?" He grumbled, seeing it malfunction, then lost control, crash-landing near Sir Daniel. "No!" Slamming his hands on the machine, Palethorn attempted to calm down and try to fix it.

"I managed to corrupt the system for a moment, now Daniel!" Winston called, making Sir Daniel dash over to Palethorn, and start smacking him along with the machine. After a couple of seconds, Palethorn was airborne again, and Queen-zilla threw herself at Fortesque, in an attempt to crush his bones.

As he stabbed the right arm again, making another pore burst open, Queen-zilla howled and collapsed. The same process as before repeated, though this time, Lord Palethorn lifted his cane-stick, trying to fire lightning magic at Sir Daniel. "Dan, be careful! A sword, hammer, lance, axe, and raygun can attract the bolts!" Winston shouted, pulling himself out of the aircraft's system.

He was correct, as such made the lightning impossible to dodge. Instead, he took out the magic longbow, and fired arrows at Palethorn.

This was going to take much longer than expected. Or maybe not, since this was the final boss. "Come on, y'stupid bloody mutation, y'can do better than this!" Palethorn snarled, making the Queen-zilla's attacks on Sir Daniel more aggressive. She began attempting to ram him, like a goat, only to go wild and not see where she was going in the process.

Once she was a bit dazed, Sir Daniel hit the glowing, right arm for the third time! However, when he did, it deflated, as the liquids poured out, slowly returning to original, humane form.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unlike the original game, Mander and Dogman were spared from being killed (in this route at least). It was kinda cruel how they were just killed off even though they didn't do anything to deserve it, unlike Palethorn.


	16. Lord Palethorn & Endings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sir Daniel defeats Lord Palethorn, and depending on his actions, gets two outcomes!
> 
> But are there really just two? Could things have gone better? Or worse?

With one arm going completely limp, the Queen-zilla had no choice but to rely only on the left. Palethorn's aircraft malfunctioned again, making him show greater signs of frustration. "If ya keep this up, y'cheeky ghost brat, this thing will fall apart!" After being hit a couple of times, Palethorn started up the ship again and took out his cane stick.

"I'm gonna stop focusin' on this blasted spell-book page, just so I can get rid of ya!" He then began firing dark magic this time, as opposed to lightning. "Eat this, Fortesque!" Trying to shoot him with the energy, Sir Daniel ran out of the way, as Queen-zilla rose from her temporary rest.

Despite her lack of balance now, Queen-zilla still made her way over to Sir Daniel, in hopes of just crushing him to dust with the mutated left hand. "Make sure not to get too close, Daniel. Otherwise, she will grab you, and do a number! She'll probably drain a ton of your energy!" Winston yelled, trying to warn Daniel.

Keeping a fair distance, Sir Daniel took out the ray-gun and fired at the pores from a distance now, before switching out to the longbow again, waiting for the usual process to repeat. Queen-zilla staggered, while the horrible green fluids spurted from the left arm.

Just two more times to go, then Queen-zilla's arms would both be unusable. "Not this again!" Palethorn crashed onto the floor again, while Winston flew out of the aircraft, so Sir Daniel could wail a few hits on him. He had to use them wisely, as eventually, he would run out of arrows for the longbow, and have to rely on a weaker weapon or one that attracted lightning.

Queen-zilla went back to her usual routine, albeit even more aggressive and running around Sir Daniel, in an attempt to confuse him before striking. Sir Daniel had to make sure she wasn't trying to trick him out, before bursting the second pore on the left arm. Right as that happened, however…

"Bloody— No!Y'little…" This time, the aircraft fell, and it was completely totaled. "Oh, tha' does it, you're gonna regret this, right now!" Due to it being beyond repair this time, Palethorn stepped out of the ship, kicking anything in his way. "Enough games, Daniel and squirt, I'm gonna do wha' I should have at the start!" Lifting the cane stick, multiple bolts of lightning struck the ground. Sir Daniel narrowly avoided them, but…

Sir Daniel narrowly avoided them, but in the process, Queen-zilla was hit, and quite dizzy from the flashes of lightning, it gave Sir Daniel the perfect chance, before she could go and run around again! Destroying the last pore on her arm, Queen-zilla howled, both limbs were now completely normal, and drained of any disgusting mutations.

Lord Palethorn slowly stepped over to Daniel, in hopes of getting a better shot. When Sir Daniel tried to do any damage to either him or Queen-zilla with the ray-gun, it was blocked off by a magic barrier. "There we go, finally, tha' darn spell works!" Palethorn laughed, while Winston looked at the cane-stick in his hands.

"I think we should take care of Palethorn first, Dan. Then, we can restore the queen to normal! Just make sure to avoid her!" As he said that, the limp-armed Queen-zilla charged at Daniel like a raging bull.

During the few moments Palethorn let his guard down to use the dark magic, Sir Daniel snuck from behind him and attacked with his magic sword. Somehow, he was able to defend Queen-zilla while readying the spell, but not himself. Since he had already been done in quite an amount while he was inside the aircraft. It wasn't going to take much to finish off Palethorn!

As Daniel ran around in hopes of avoiding the Queen-zilla, he did a U-turn right back to catch Palethorn not paying attention and knocked him out finally. With one final threat out cold, only the other was left, completely defenseless too!

"No!" He snarled, "I can't lose, I can't lose to the likes of you!" Palethorn sobbed, while Sir Daniel lifted up his sword, seeing the one, glowing pore left on Queen-zilla face.

She let out an ear-piercing yell, that sounded more humane, this time. Like an actual woman's shriek. Queen-zilla flailed around, the pore was cut open, and her face was oozing with the horrible, green liquid this time.

When she fell down, her body slowly returned to a normal, human woman.

Sir Daniel looked over to her, picking up her body and then placing it back onto the throne gently, hoping she remembered nothing that happened possibly.

Palethorn groaned, seeing the spell-book. "No, I still got this, I can turn this in my favor!" Sir Daniel and Winston both saw Zarok's spell-book, and quickly grabbed for it before Palethorn could crawl over. He sneered at the both of them.

"Pssht, yeah, I know, it's no use. Is it? Funny, all my life, the most I wanted was a lil' respect. And, world domination of course, for people t'notice," he chuckled. "The most decent thing I can do is admit defeat t'ya. But I ain't a decent man!" Palethorn hissed, lifting up his cane-stick one last time. "And you will all notice this!"

A giant lightning bolt came out from the cane-stick, in panic, Sir Daniel held up Zarok's spell-book, which caught on fire within mere seconds. "What? No! Wha' did y'do, you dolt! Do you realize wha' you've caused!?"

"Uh, we destroyed the book— by accident, which will restore everyone to normal?" Winston asked.

"No you donkey! It'll—" He couldn't even finish his sentence, as the book flew upwards into ashes and smoke, creating a giant vortex above Palethorn and Sir Daniel.

Unfortunately, for Palethorn, Sir Daniel and Winston already had fled the area the moment it that portal showed up, not wanting to get sucked in. The vortex lifted Palethorn's weak body from the floor, and sucking him in before closing…

Perhaps there was a better alternative. But Dan couldn't think of one.

Now, Lord Palethorn, was lost between time and space…

* * *

 

**(Sir Hamis not rescued, Bad Ending)**

Sir Daniel returned along with Winston, looking exhausted. "Professor!" The ghost cheered. Professor Kift was overjoyed. Much to Daniel's surprise, Monty, Mander, and Dogman seemed greatly satisfied too.

Princess Kiya ran over to Sir Daniel, only to be interrupted by Planum, who was… extremely slimy, not that Daniel was terribly bothered by this. "You returned have! Tell me, Palethorn you defeated, yes?"

"Yes, and no," he mumbled, "Palethorn is still out there, lost in a void, but Zarok's book is destroyed." Sir Daniel gulped a little, mainly due to the expression on Mander's face.

"And he still has that one page he stole from you?!" Mander groaned, in which Daniel nodded in response. "Fotesque, in order for us to return to our forms and fix everything, all the pages must be destroyed! And if Palethorn deciphers it while he's caught between realms—"

"Why, that would certainly ruin the world!" Kift replied, having a panic attack.

Parting from the embrace, Planum smiled. "Go us let time through! And Palethorn stop, for and once all!" She then walked over to the time machine, about to activate it, much to Monty's fears.

"Ay, captain, slow down, ain't it dangerous t'go on yer own!?"

Stepping over to the time machine, Sir Daniel hoisted himself onto the seat next to hers. "I'll go with you, captain!" Monty felt himself shatter a little bit on the inside hearing that, as did Kiya slightly.

"Really?" She giggled. "You're kind too. Uh, yes, stop Palethorn let's back go!" Sir Daniel hovered his hands to the dial, trying to adjust the time and destination, which led to Planum correcting him. "Back be will we, care take!" Planum said one last time, as she and Daniel waved goodbye, heading back into time.

Dogman stopped chewing on his giant dinosaur bone and looked at Montague. "Sorry that she picked bone-man over you."

Mander, on the other hand, slid up to Kiya while smirking. "So," he spoke, flicking his tongue, "are you doing anything later tonight?" In response, Mander was met with a slap to the face from the mummy, who stormed off.

Kift and Winston meanwhile, watched on in worry. They knew, that the destination Planum and Daniel would go off into, would be soon interrupted.

* * *

 

"Um, Fortisskay." Planum spoke softly, trying to hide her giggles. "Kind is this of nice, it isn't?" She didn't even notice Sir Daniel's expression until he tugged at her cape, pointing at what was in front of them as they traveled between the dimensions of space and time.

Standing before them, and stopping the time machine with a giant hand, was Lord Palethorn. Alive, and fused with a demon.

"Fortisskay, worry do not, this just is for chance a revenge!"

Palethorn bellowed with laughter at Planum and Sir Daniel, and everything went black…

* * *

**(Sir Hamis rescued, Good Ending)**

Sir Daniel returned along with Winston, looking exhausted. "Professor!" The ghost cheered. Professor Kift was overjoyed. Much to Daniel's surprise, Monty, Mander, and Dogman seemed greatly satisfied too, but Hamis was pouting, per-usual.

Princess Kiya ran over to Sir Daniel, hugging him, much to the jealousy of Planum. "You're back, Daniel! What happened? Is Palethorn done for?"

"Yes, and no," he mumbled, "Palethorn is still out there, but, Zarok's book is destroyed." Sir Daniel gulped a little, mainly due to Hamis shouting at the top of his non-existent lungs.

"What? You idiot! Mander said the last page in your ribs got stolen, and now, Palethorn has it, while being lost between timelines!?" Hamis then grabbed Sir Daniel, shaking him around until he got dizzy. "I thought you weren't going to disappoint me!" He then dropped Daniel just as suddenly as Hamis picked him up. "You, alien!"

Planum lifted her head, surprised. "You, me, time machine. We're going back, to fix the error Daniel made moments ago, and destroy the last page!" Professor Kift wanted to object, but it was far too late, as Hamis forced himself int the passenger seat of the time machine, and it seemed that Planum wasn't going to argue since she had that idea in mind too.

Monty tried to say something, pulling himself in front of the time machine. "Captain, tha' might be too dangerous. Wha' if Palethorn—" Before he could continue, it already took off, going through a portal. "Why, tha' idiot is gonna get 'er killed!"

Both Sir Daniel and Kiya ignored them, walking over to the sarcophagus that Daniel had first met Kiya in.

It was all over, he could rest with Palethorn defeated and Hamis wanting to take charge with Planum. Same with Kiya, now that the Ripper was dead and no longer a threat, she could relax too.

"Well, my brain is satisfied, and I assume yours is too." She held onto him. "You know, It may seem odd, considering we didn't know each other for so long, but I'm willing to just lay here and rest with you. What do you say, Daniel?" Princess Kiya just stared for a moment, before being embraced gently.

Both of them went inside the coffin. She closed her eyes, while Dan's right-eye sunk back into his skull.

Nothing could disturb them now, the adventure, was at a close.

It wasn't like Sir Daniel had forgotten about something… right?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'know, looking back on this, I realized that a whole story arc could be made out of the "bad ending" where Palethorn throws Sir Daniel back in time perhaps, and Kiya is left in the 1800's… could make for a nice MediEvil mini-story.


End file.
